Songlines

21/08/2026

Every time those rhythms come to play, it is like we are home; we are present, in the moment, and it feels calm and all-encompassing”

For twins Naomi and Lisa-Kaindé Diaz, home is not a physical place, but a feeling of alignment. Their latest album, Offering, is an emotional map of this journey: the isolation of misdirection and the hope of coming back to yourself.

Their music is characterised by textured ambience and immersed in the timeless rhythms of Cuba - of their father, the late percussionist Miguel ‘Angá’ Diaz. ‘Aset’, is a beautiful example of this: starting with the eerie sighs of looped piano keys, with vocals that whisper ‘I am Osiris rising / I kept stealing their knowledge / Now I know divination / As I throw all the shells in’, before the percussion kicks in with defiant power.

Ibeyi tour Europe this autumn and play London’s Electric Brixton on November 24.

The latest issue of Songlines is out now. Read the full interview now in print and online at https://www.songlines.co.uk/content/news/introducing-the-september-issue-of-songlines-featuring-ibeyi

12/08/2026

Le Vent du Nord are currently touring the UK. Here's an excerpt from an interview we did with the group in our Songlines Community, where they shared their thoughts on identity. Don't miss them!

Full UK tour dates are at the bottom of the article: https://www.songlines.co.uk/content/features/le-vent-du-nord-theres-a-society-in-north-america-that-lives-breathes-and-makes-love-in-french

17/07/2026

Born from the punta rock revolution that Andy Palacio helped ignite, The Garifuna Collective are the definitive sound of their people, driven by turtle-shell percussion and call-and-response vocals. The Garifuna, who live along the coasts of Belize, Honduras and Guatemala, descend from shipwrecked Africans who escaped slavery in the Caribbean. Simon Broughton travelled to Belize to hear how our new cover stars have turned music into a declaration of cultural survival, with Stonetree Records founder Ivan Duran still at the helm.

Catch them in the UK next week: The Jazz Cafe, London on 22 July and WOMAD Festival 23–26 July.

https://www.songlines.co.uk/content/features/the-garifuna-collective-drums-of-their-ancestors

16/07/2026

Important news for all folk artists. Submit your application for the reinstated Best Traditional Folk Album Grammy and Folk Alliance International will waive the fee if you do so by July 20

https://www.songlines.co.uk/content/news/grammys-reintroduce-best-traditional-folk-album-award-and-applications-are-now-open

13/07/2026

“We’re the Marvel superheroes. Open Doctor Strange’s portal, and out come a load of Brazilians.”

While he was propelled to global fame through films such as ‘City of God’ and Wes Anderson’s ‘The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou’, music has always been at the centre of Seu Jorge’s story.

Now, he’s finally ready to share ‘The Other Side’: an album of his most beloved songs, with covers of artists from Milton "Bituca" Nascimento to Nick Drake, backed by an orchestra which has been in the works since 2009.

In our career-spanning interview, Jorge talks about how the album came to be, his lifelong love of radio and samba, his relationship with David Bowie, and why Brazilians are the best problem-solvers.

He first reached the world as an actor before a musical career caught up with his filmic fame. Oleno Netto meets the Brazilian whose long-gestated new album...

22/06/2026

His distinctive, abstractive approach to folkloric sounds has shaped albums for the likes of Rosalía, Cocanha, Silvia Perez Cruz and Maria Mazzotta, but Barcelona-born producer Raül Refree would rather consider himself a musician than a producer.

Drawing on his classical training and later punk background, Refree blends traditional, experimental and pop influences. Reflecting on his early years in music, he realised that he wasn’t able to work as rigidly as classical technique required: “What was easy and natural for me was to create something new out of this score.”

Find out more about his work and creative philosophy in Songlines #218:

Celebrated for his distinctive, abstractive approach to folkloric sounds, the Barcelona-born uber-producer talks to Michał Wieczorek

16/06/2026

"Alté, shorthand for “alternative,” refers to a youth-led musical and cultural movement that quietly refuses mainstream Nigerian pop. Artists such as DRB LasGidi, Lady Donli, Cruelsantino and Odunsi The Engine helped shape its identity, using platforms like SoundCloud, Tumblr and early Twitter to circulate their work outside traditional industry channels. Emerging from Lagos in the mid-2010s, the movement has fostered a spirit of experimentation that continues to shape contemporary African music.

In Songlines #218, Mary Chiney speaks to alté pioneer Lady Donli - who will drop a much-anticipated new album later this year - on the cultural significance of the movement and its sonic evolution.

https://www.songlines.co.uk/features/alte-rising-the-nigerian-underground-movement-reshaping-african-pop