AMADOU & MARIAM

NEW ALBUM ‘LA CONFUSION’ RELEASED ON 22 SEPTEMBER ON BECAUSE MUSIC

WATCH ‘FILAOU BESSAME’ LYRIC VIDEO

“Disco electro corker” – Mojo

“Leave it to Amadou & Mariam to know just how to balance the weight of a message with the pull of the dance floor” – Pitchfork

‘La Confusion’, the highly anticipated ninth full-length album from Malian musical duo and Grammy-award nominees Amadou & Mariam, is due on 22 September on Because Music. In celebration of the release the band has shared the lyric video for the track “Filaou Bessame”.

WATCH ‘FILAOU BESSAME’ LYRIC VIDEO HERE: https://youtu.be/wv9BZhYCCbk

Alongside ‘Filaou Bessame’, the album also includes the single ‘Bofou Safou’, which Stereogum calls “the funk, the whole funk, and nothing but the funk”. Amadou & Mariam recently released the Bofou Safou EP via Because Music. The EP includes the first two La Confusion singles, “Bofou Safou” and “Filaou Bessame,” alongside remixes of the EP’s title track by Fatima Yamaha, Africaine 808, Henrik Schwarz and more. The term “bofou safou” is a Bambara (the Malian national language) nickname given to nonchalant young men who would rather dance than work. Of the new EP, the group notes, “We really like the remixes that were made for the EP. You get to hear our music in a different form, which is great. All five remixes manage to catch the essence of our song while really pushing those enticing afro pop and electronic vibes further.”

Full album tracklist:

1.Bofou Safou

2.C´est Chaud

3.Filaou Bessame

4.Ta Promesse

5.La Confusion

6.Femmes du Monde

7.Fari Mandila

8.Diarra

9. Mokou Mokou

10. Yiki Yassa

11. Massa Allah

12. Mokou Mokou Blues

Amadou & Mariam have confirmed a string of international live dates, including a London show at The Troxy on 4^th November. The duo have have also announced a show at Paris’ La Cigale; they have played there many times over the years, returning on 8th September to celebrate the legendary venue’s 30th Anniversary.

22 August – Summer In The Cit Palmentgarten – Frankfurt, Germany

26 August – Vidor Fesztival – Nyiregyhaza, Hungary

03 September – End of the Road Festival – Dorset, UK

08 September – Le Cigale – Paris, France

27 September – La Belle Electrique – Grenoble, France

28 September – Festival Detonacion Au Club – Besancon, France

13 October – Muziekgebouw Eindhoven – Eindhoven, Netherlands

14 October – Melkweg – Amsterdam, Netherlands

15 October – Annabel Cafe’ En Poppodium – Rotterdam, Netherlands

16 October – De Oosterpoort – Groningen, Netherlands

04 November – The Troxy – London, UK

Amadou & Mariam met in 1975 while attending the Institute for Young Blind in Bamako (where they continue to play an annual benefit concert). Influenced by the records of Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd as well as traditional African music, the couple began working as a duo in 1983. Their transition from world music stages to rock festival headliners came with 2005’s Manu Chao-produced ‘Dimanche à Bamako,’ one of the best-selling African albums of all time.

In recent years, Amadou and Mariam have toured with Coldplay and U2 and jammed with musical heroes David Gilmour and Johnny Marr. They’ve performed at a Nobel Peace Prize concert in honour of Barack Obama and played at the opening ceremonies of the last two FIFA world cups. Manu Chao and Damon Albarn have lent their production skills to their records and they have worked with some of the most innovative names in contemporary rock music via Albarn’s ‘Africa Express’ and other cross-cultural projects, such as ‘L’Afrik C’est Chic’.

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