Yamäya - Senegal (Album)

Yamäya, a collective of London and Brighton based musicians with a deep-shared love of Fela Kuti, released their debut album ‘Senegal’ on Friday (24th) via Funkiwala Records, and it’s a unique body of work that features vocalist Khadim Sarr. Having reached the final 8 bands out of 5600 entries in the 2019 Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition, ‘Senegal’ amalgamates influences from across the great African continent including afrobeat, griots and ethiopiques with modern tinges of dub, hip hop, soul and jazz.

The Senegalese singer joined Yamäya in 2015 having originally moved to the UK in the early noughties with his group, Tara. Bringing with him the rhythm and dance of the Baye Fall, Sarr’s African background fuses effortlessly with the different origins, schools and traditions of his fellow band members, with each musician encouraging the other to co-create and offer their own unique musical ideas and styles, which allows Yamäya to interweave their own originality into a solid afrobeat base, creating a sound which pays homage to the music’s roots yet still sounding fresh and exciting. Penning his lyrics to the sounds and rhythms created by the band in the studio, Sarr’s vocals are predominantly sung in Wolof, the beautifully rhythmic and melodic language of Senegal, and they span political and cultural spheres.

Yamäya have performed at venues and festivals throughout the UK including the Avalon stage at Glastonbury as part of the 2018 Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition, Tropical Pressure, Bimble Festival and Farmfest and recently performed two shows at the prestigious Ronnie Scott’s with double headliner Dele Sosimi and a headline show at Brighton Komedia.