One of Mali's most enduring and buoyant artists, Sidi Touré has announced forthcoming new album Afrik Toun Mé (in English, Africa Must Unite), due out September 11th on Thrill Jockey Records. Following the boisterous full band of arrangements of his 2018 release Toubalbero, Afrik Toun Mé is an album of intimate comforts and subtle beauties. Touré, joined by virtuoso guitarist Mamadou Kelly and calabash player Boubou Diallo, blends parables and tales of inspiration that honor courage and resilience in the face of trial and tragedy. The spare and arresting songs of Afrik Toun Mé capture the familiarity and personal touch of life's small communions with the sincerity and poise that are indelible to Sidi Touré.
Alongside news of the album release, Touré has shared album's centerpiece "Tchaw Yan" (roughly "Knowledge") , a track that emphasizes how paramount Touré sees the pursuit of science is to the advancement and improvement of Africa. Touré explains: "Science is the driver of progress. Today everything we see is thanks to scientific progress and to arrive at scientific progress people must go get an education. If Europeans were able to colonize Africa, it was because of technology. If China has become a world power, it is also because of technology and education. They started by agricultural auto-sufficiency, then healthcare and finally scientific progress - airplanes, computers, mobile phones, etc. And so he who is not educated, is in total obscurantism."
Touré has been faced with the many challenges that come with limitations on communal and social gatherings during the 2020 pandemic. As one of countless artists around the world severely impacted by these limitations, his nearly daily performances have been restricted for months on end. The modest acoustic trio on Afrik Toun Mé captures the essence of his passionate performances, Touré delivering his encouraging and urgent messages as if plain spoken to friends gathered around a fire or over a cup of tea. In the face of turmoil both local and global, Sidi Touré's Afrik Toun Mé is a work of pure radiance.
Listen to Sidi Touré's Afrik Toun Mé single "Tchaw Yan"!
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