Amadou & Mariam – La Confusion

There won’t be many better album-openers in 2017 than Bofou Safou, the lead track on Amadou & Mariam’s ninth LP. It’s a full-scale disco banger with a bouncing melody, bags of percussion and a driving rhythm that is almost certainly going to get you. While the veteran Malian duo can’t quite keep things at those heights throughout, La Confusion is never anything less than engaging.

This is a record packed with hypnotic, undulating West African grooves married to a throwback, synth-packed foreground. It’s funky, fresh and highly danceable in places, and it has to be said that it’s a whole load of fun. When your album’s title track comes off like something from a 1980s action film, with an uptempo bounce and outlandish Loggins-esque guitar solo halfway through, you’re definitely doing something right.

The album’s second half slows down and lacks some of the oomph of the first, and the tone does shift around a bit too much, but that’s part of its joy. La Confusion’s high points will be packing out dancefloors (and soundtracking imaginary car chases) for months to come.

Listen to: Bofou Safou, La Confusion, Yiki Yassa