Songhoy Boys bring their desert blues to Paris for our latest session

19 August 2015, 13:00 | Written by Paul Bridgewater

(News)

(Songhoy Blues)

Songhoy Blues have been one of the breakout musical successes of the last two years. A band that came together in the face of extreme crisis - as unrest in their native Northern Mali moblised them into musical action - they were picked up by a manager and invited to record a song with Nick Zinner .

The song was "Soubour", one of the standout tracks from Damon Albarn's Africa Express record Maison Des Jeunes and Zinner returned to produce the four-piece for their debut long-player Music in Exile. It's a record that owes a sonic debt to Ali Farka Toure but plays fast and loose with jubliance and celebration in the band's own unique way. It's an intoxicating record and one of 2015's best.

We met up with the band on Île aux Cygnes - a small artificial island in the Seine, located in Paris' 15th and 16th arrondissement - for their Best Fit Session, which you can watch above.

Songhoy Blues play the Far Out stage at 5:30 on Saturday at Green Man Festival. Session directed by Sebastien Dehesdin.