Songlines

Songlines is the definitive magazine for world music – music that has its roots in all parts of the globe, from Mali to Mexico, India to Iraq. Whether this music is defined as traditional, contemporary, folk or fusion, Songlines is the only publication to truly represent and embrace it. However, Songlines is not just about music, but about how the music fits into the landscape; it’s about politics, history and identity, and the artists who incite change through their music. Through its extensive articles and reviews, Songlines is your essential guide to an extraordinary world of music and culture, whether you are starting on your journey of discovery or are already a seasoned fan.

Songlines

Latin Takeover

CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE INCLUDE

TOP OF THE WORLD • On this issue’s compilation – our curated selection of new music and bonus tracks from across the globe

A Kerrfect Night • Northern Ireland’s Barry Kerr picks up first-ever Folk Album of the Year award at a busy musical night in Rochdale

Island Champions • Russ Slater Johnson speaks to the host of Puerto Rican podcast, La Brega, about dignity, Bad Bunny and the art of the hustle

The 4 Corners and Centre of Juni Habel’s Universe • The Norwegian singer-songwriter shares the minimal, spooky and emotional beauty of five albums that have left a lasting impression on her own work

ZENA • Jim Hickson on the London duo channelling Ethiopian tradition and contemporary cool into experimental pop gold

SOUNDCHECK • Songlines editorial team are currently listening to…

Cocanha • Erin Cobby talks to the duo defying French folk tropes with progressive Occitan song

Constantinople

COMPETITIONS

Louisiana, US • Russell Higham visits Louisiana, home of the world-famous Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans and Lafayette, where he finds a state proudly and positively celebrating its musical connections to the wider world

IN BRIEF

Planet Ilunga • Chris Wheatley catches up with the owner of a Belgian imprint curating the rhythms of Congolese rumba

Essential Records

La Muchacha • A Colombian singer-songwriter whose words have soundtracked her country’s protests

Rise Up, Nature: Songs of Nordic Biodiversity • Wif Stenger savours a lush array of roots music from Finland and beyond at a benefit concert for ancient forests

OBITUARIES

SIMON SAYS… • Simon Broughton explores the architecture and all-action folk music gatherings of Barcelona

Eliza Carthy’s News of the Whirl • After Martin Carthy’s sudden Alzhemier’s diagnosis, Eliza, his daughter, reflects on the hastily rearranged UK tour put together as the headline act quietly steps down

A Conversation with JORGE DREXLER • Russ Slater Johnson talks with the Uruguayan singer-songwriter about Latin American music’s recent global renaissance, cultural gains in his home country and new collaborative candombe-charged album, Taracá

A RAY of LIGHT • Charis McGowan speaks to Silvana Estrada in the house of Mexican ranchera icon, Chavela Vargas. It’s where Estrada learned how to channel grief into song, laying the foundations for her latest album

Tango’s Great Unknown • Simon Broughton meets SONICO, a Belgian ensemble dedicated to reviving the repertoire of Eduardo Rovira, an overlooked and innovative Argentine composer

Chan Chan Changed Everything • Thirty years since an illustrious team of Cuban musicians were assembled to record an album of “old-school son and traditions from eastern Cuba”, Jane Cornwell unpicks the sepia mythology of Buena Vista Social Club to reveal a story of chance, politics and marketing, turning a Havana recording session into a cultural phenomenon

Charif Megarbane • Megan Iacobini de Fazio speaks with the...