Etenesh Wassie & Mathieu Sourisseau - Yene Alem

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 138, June 2018.

Etenesh Wassie & Mathieu Sourisseau
Yene Alem
Buda Musique (43 mins)

The collaboration between Ethiopian singer Etenesh Wassie and French bass guitarist Mathieu Sourisseau has already yielded one album back in 2010 and now they’ve brought along cellist Julie Läderach (also French) to join them on their journey.

This is art music, and as such it benefits from concentrated listening. The interplay between voice, cello and bass creates an atmosphere that is stark yet intimate, and always intense. It’s serious stuff, but that’s not to say it’s inward-looking. The soundsculpture of Yene Alem is one that mixes classical and folk music of Europe with avant-garde rock and free jazz and always works in complete sympathy with the age-old qañat scales and melodies of Ethiopia’s azmari bards. The trio get funky when they need to, but they’re not afraid to unsettle your ears, either.

The size and make-up of the ensemble doesn’t really give too much scope for variation in texture - a range of electronic effects on Sourisseau’s acoustic bass notwithstanding – and by the end of the album you may want something a bit different. More contrasts would be welcome, I think, but that shouldn’t take away from the otherwise very nourishing music: this is food for the ears and the mind.