Princesses Nubiennes
This gorgeous pair of African princesses are the latest artists with Mother Continent roots--including Baaba Maal, Ray Lema, Youssou N'Dour, Salif Keita, Zap Mama, and Angelique Kidjo--to infuse French music with the soul it would otherwise lack. Unlike those who cut their deep African funk with the cloying sugar of French pop, Helene and Celia Faussart, sisters from Bordeaux, don't give it all up to La Belle France. In clear, warmly intimate, and, yes, Parisian-sexy voices, they snake in and out of each other's way, often coming together to build glorious harmonies, always singing universally uplifting messages [translations in the CD booklet, except for their American-sounding English in "Sugar Cane"]. It's all set in clean-edged, ultrahip, sensitively calibrated tracks that draw on lush soul, steamy funk, beat-driven hip-hop and cool, flowing jazz. But this album is no pastiche of sounds looking to gobble up many demographics. Recorded in France and London,Princesses Nubiennesplays like an extended single--better yet, like a dreamy musical journey through the sounds of the modern-day African diaspora.--Elena Oumano