Baaba Maal’s ‘Television’ tunes in new partnership

NEW YORK – After an eight-year break, Senegalese recording artist Baaba Maal will release ‘Television’, his first album of all-new recorded material since 2001’s ‘Missing You’.

On the album, due on September 15 on Palm, Maal teams with members of New York lounge-pop act Brazilian Girls to create eight songs of world-infused exotica that fuses the African traditions he’s known for with a breezy, down-tempo feel.Maal hooked up with Sabina Sciubba and Didi Gutman through mutual friends, and they composed the material together in London. ‘I said to them that I was very open about whatever they wanted to bring into these songs,’ Maal told Billboard.com.’We stayed in a writing room for three days and did most of the songs together.’Much of the music is indeed new, but some has been kicking around Maal’s repertoire for years. Maal said he’s been playing the songs ‘Miracle’ and ‘Tindo’ for 20 years and only now figured out how he wanted to present them as recordings.’It comes from traditional African music. I played (‘Tindo’) for them and said, ‘This song is beautiful and should be on the album. So let’s work on it’.’The themes woven through ‘Television’ – with lyrics in Maal’s native tongue, Pulaar – express the musician’s commitment to generate global awareness of his continent.’The album is in general about how it is important for me to connect Africa to the rest of the world,’ he said, ‘using the elements that come from the traditions and giving Africa the same language that everyone is talking.’Maal tackles environmental issues on ‘Dakar Moon’, and poverty and changing familial roles on ‘A Song for Women’.Maal has risen over the past several decades as one of the most popular ‘world musicians’; according to Nielsen SoundScan, his 2001 album ‘Missing You’ has sold 37 000 copies to date. Since then, Palm has released three compilations of Maal’s music, and he has performed in concert with Blur/Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn and Scottish band Franz Ferdinand. In May, Maal joined Bono onstage in London during Island Records’ tribute to former label honcho Chris Blackwell. And on July 18, he appeared at Radio City Music Hall for the Nelson Mandela Day concert, alongside Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Aretha Franklin and Carla Bruni.Those shows, along with the new album, are part of Maal’s plan to bring Senegalese music to new audiences, but also to enlighten fellow Africans.’To play music for young African generations – it can be like a bridge to connect them to other music of the world,’ he said. – Nampa-Reuters