Seya

"Not so much a singer as an iconic one-woman commercial revolution, Mali's most popular star Oumou Sangare has spent the last five years developing enterprises other than singing... So when she sings, Mali tends to listen; and it's to her eternal credit that she sings about the things her country, and others, need to hear about... her commanding voice supported by an undulating, hypnotic throng of cyclical guitar and ngoni figures, warmed at times by solitary sax or flute or more brass, and stippled with a bricolage of beats picked out on djembe, calabash, congas and a further host of percussion, with the solid, marimba-like clunk of balafon providing the indomitable heartbeat. It's a motherly, enveloping sound, one that simultaneously soothes and inspires.'
- Andy Gill, The Independent

"(5 stars) Spectacular...a majestic mistress of many moods who presides over her musicians with regal confidence...a masterpiece."
- The Observer Music Monthly

"Seya is a massive album of 11 big hitting tracks that leaves the listener breathless...an undisputed heavyweight classic."
- Songlines (Top of the World album)