Album Review: Rokia Traore - Né So

Reverting to something a bit closer to traditional Malian music after Traore's last rock-fuelled outing Beautiful Africa, Né So ('home' in her native Bambara tongue) expresses many emotions about Mali.

It doesn't shy away from the conflict and human rights abuses of recent years, notably on the sparse but affecting title track. It's a solid but rarely inspirational set that seems unlikely to cross over, as contributions from Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones, Nobel Prize winning author Toni Morrison and Devendra Banhart get somewhat lost in the aether.