Songhoy Blues Release Single ‘Nick’ With A Glastonbury Themed Video

Songhoy Blues are a band who feature heavily in the new film about the plight of musicians in Mali, a country recently taken over by a particularly harsh brand of Sharia law that has banned all western music with grizzly consequences for those who disobey. However, Timbuktu, the capital, is home to some world famous musicians who are now trying to resist the laws and find outlets for their creativity under the stifling regime. Songhoy Blues are a blues band, as their name suggests, fusing standard 12 bar chord patterns, sorrowful twangs, and 'devil-may-care' railroad rhythms of the genre with tumbling Malian vocal melodies. By taking their music on tour, whilst in exile, the band are spreading awareness of the situation back in their home country.

Yes, we know it's not dance music, but it's worth talking about because it is rather good.

The group recently took a pretty significant trip to Glastonbury to perform on the Pyramid stage this year to a great reception, and they made this video to document the event and to go with their great, earthy new single:

The band are currently on the road in Europe having just packed in a few performances at various UK festivals, but fear not- they shall return. The full list of UK tour dates to catch Songhoy Blues this year are as follows:

16th August, Winchester, Boomtown Fair Festival
22nd August, Brecon Beacons, Greenman Festival
22nd October, Glasgow, SWG3 Warehouse Studio
23rd October, Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
24th October, Brighton, Concorde 2
25th October, Manchester, Gorilla
26th October, Birmingham, Hare & Hounds
27th October, Bristol, The Fleece
4th November, London, KOKO

Their new song, Nick, on Transgressive Records, comes from their Music In Exile album released in February this year. Find the album to buy here. You can find tickets for the upcoming tour here and here.