OPTIMISME

Acclaimed Malian rock band Songhoy Blues are back with their most important album to date, Optimisme (French for optimism). This 11-song, multilingual collection marks a real musical breakthrough. Musically harder, steeped in deep traditions of classic Malian music and desert blues and fused with an urgent and super-charged sound of now, the album was produced by Matt Sweeney of beloved indie rockers Chavez and recorded and mixed by Daniel Schlett (The War on Drugs, Modest Mouse, Ghostface Killah) in Brooklyn, NY. Songhoy Blues has created a distinctive sound by blending Malian cross-rhythms with Western influences such as rock and punk alongside a uniquely virtuosic guitar style. These all come together on lead single "Worry" with the lyrics "Don't worry / You're gonna be happy / Keep fighting today / That smile will come one day," sung as an empowering mantra. This feeling permeates the music of Songhoy Blues and is a glimpse of what's to come as the band's sound continues to evolve.