Amadou & Mariam – "Sabali" [prod. by Damon Albarn]

I almost didn't hear this.

I found it on Gorilla vs. Bear earlier today. The moment I read "produced by Damon Albarn," I shuddered a bit, and it damn near prompted me to skip the song altogether. Not that I have any huge reservations against dude, but I've been slightly over him. I haven't been too convinced he'd do anything truly significant this late in his career.

But I decided to brave forward and listen anyway (because, after all, I do like keeping up with the lovely vision-impaired Malian couple). Sufficed to say, I was floored when I discovered the curiously short "Sabali" has serious jam-of-the-year potential.

Mr. Albarn has crafted a simple electro-house lullaby around Mariam's bittersweet croon. It doesn't sound too different from something Röyksopp would have turned out in '05, but Mariam's output easily makes up for any nominal notions of outmoding.

Unlike so many songs in the genre that are dropping these days, "Sabali" is not overproduced. It's got the bare essentials and not much else. Albarn was smart enough to understand that gratuitous production would be an insult to the majesty of Mariam's performance.

This is serious. DO NOT SLEEP.

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