Songhoy Blues - Héritage

Héritage is the fourth studio album by Malian blues rock band Songhoy Blues, released in January 2025 via Transgressive Records.

Songhoy Blues was formed in Bamako, Mali after band member Garba Touré (guitars, vocals) was forced to flee the north of Mali following a jihadist group that took control, banning cigarettes, alcohol and music. Together with Aliou Touré (guitars, vocals), Oumar Touré (bass, vocals) and Nathanael Dembélé (drums, vocals), they formed a band "... to recreate that lost ambience of the north and make all the refugees relive those northern songs." They are Songhoy people and the band name comes from their ethnicity and the genre of music they play, 'desert blues'.

Songhoy Blues began playing on the Bamako club circuit, attracting both Songhoy and Tuareg fans. In 2013 the band came to the attention of international musicians and producers including Damon Albarn and Nick Zinner, guitarist with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Zinner produced their breakout single “Soubour” and their debut album Music In Exile, which was released to universal acclaim.

From the first listening to Héritage, the much-awaited fourth album by Songhoy Blues, it is clear that the 4-piece rock band from northern Mali are in a new frame of mind.  With Héritage, they move into a more acoustic, creative re-imagining of the “desert blues” style that has brought them to world fame.

Charismatic, articulate and creative, the band burst onto the scene in 2013 with a powerful style and stage manner once described as “Timbuktu Punk”. Their songs deal with issues of life and love in Mali, and are based on five-note scales, rock rhythms, gritty vocals, and glittering guitar.

These elements are ever present in their new album Héritage, but with a more intimate groove laced with other sounds from different ethnic traditions from around the country.  Migration and forced displacement bring new perspectives to the notion of heritage in their music.

Héritage was recorded in the Remote Records Studio and Studio Moffou in Bamako, with producer Paul Chandler, and draws on the remarkable wealth of musical talent in the city. The album presents new compositions and reworkings of old classics. It is infused with the ethereal sounds of various traditional instruments, all in the hands of great Malian masters.

This album is a limited edition on transparent orange coloured vinyl housed in a single pocket sleeve with a printed inner sleeve, pressed in the UK via Transgressive Records.