Mádibá
"Be water, my friend," is a popular saying attributed to Bruce Lee, a friendly reminder encouraging us to remain fluid in mind and body, to go with the flow, be willing to adapt and open to change, to be in the moment and never stop moving. Water is also the leitmotif of "Mádibá", the recently released fifth solo album by France-based Cameroonian singer and composer Blick Bassy. Combining state-of-the-art production with elements from soul, folk and electro to poetic effect and singing in Baasa, Bassy presents "twelve songs in the form of fables, dedicated to the theme of water."
Taking cues from his peers such as James Blake, Bon Iver and Ry X, Blick Bassy dives deep into more modern realms of sound, creating innovative, translucent compositions alongside his frequent collaborator Romain Jovian and adding arrangements by Malik Djoudi to bolster his already crystal clear timbre. "Mádibá" then is as much an ethereal statement as it is a study of life with water at its source, a veritable attempt to achieve lucidity in murky times: "It is a question here of showing a form of respect, of connecting with the living, of imagining through these titles a world in which we could live in coherence with our environment,” Bassy comments.
As for the futuristic, effervescent soundscapes, he adds: "I have always claimed my status as an African musician, but also the contemporary aspect of my approach. In African musical culture, there is unfortunately little of this type of work on the sound itself, on the exploration of new techniques. I would like to position myself as an African avant-garde artist who, with each of his new projects, offers new ideas in the treatment of sound and melody.” That being said, "Mádibá" is a brilliantly stirring concept album that follows its own heartbeat and is sure to make a splash by means of its mere existence, as if to say: "Be the change that you wish to see in this world, my friend."
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