Amadou & Mariam announce new album and single featuring Santigold

Amadou & Mariam will release their new album 'Folila' through Because Music on 2nd April. Featuring appearances by Santigold, Theophilus London, TV On The Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Bassekou Kouyaté, the album is the follow-up to 2009's acclaimed 'Welcome To Mali'. A single 'Dougou Badia' will be released on 19th March.

New single 'Dougou Badia', which features Santigold, can be listened to here:
http://soundcloud.com/because/sets/amadou-mariam

Amadou & Mariam, who will perform at the annual TEDx event in March, have confirmed a Shepherd's Bush Empire show on 13thApril. The duo will also take part in the Artangel 'A Room For London' programme at Queen Elizabeth Hall in May.

Fri 13th April London O2 Empire Shepherd's Bush

Tickets £20 (excl. booking fee) from www.comono.co.uk and 0844 477 2000
The story of 'Folila' - the word means 'music' in Bambara - boasts three distinct chapters, and is a tale of how two records became one. Marc-Antoine Moreau, the duo's long-time manager and producer explains: "The original idea was to make two albums: a crossover record in New York City, where Amadou and Mariam have many musical friends and relationships and the other a more rootsy album recorded in Bamako with mostly African guests and African percussion instead of a drum kit."
Both plans came to fruition, but when Amadou and Mariam listened back to the richness of the two sessions, a third way suggested itself: to combine the two recordings in a seamless, organic fashion. The result is 'Folila,' a near-perfect example of how tradition and modernity can work together to generate creative forward movement, two parallel rails leading to a common musical destination.

Amadou & Mariam met in 1977 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, Eric Clapton and Pink Floyd as well as traditional African music, the couple began working as a duo in 1983 and their early recordings have since been remastered and reissued by Because Music on the box set '1990-1995: The Best of the African Years'. 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, winning a prestigious Les Victoires de la Musique award (the French equivalent of the Grammys) and two BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music.

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