Album Review: Orchestre Poly Rythmo, Cotonou Club

Album for 'Cotonou Club' by Orchestre Poly Rythmo. Photo / Supplied.

First album in 20 years from this group from Benin in West Africa which also features those funny chaps from Franz Ferdinand in their first appearance in a few years too. Not that you'd know they're on Lion Is Burning, because there's none of their trademark knees-up rock and it's simply a brassy beat-driven mantra that makes a fitting end to the album.

Elsewhere Von Vo Nono brings together Afrobeat, hints of the Caribbean, and psychedelic soul for something magical, whereas Ma Vie is sparse and plucky (ideal for cocktail hour perhaps), and check out the blistering funky freneticsm of Gbeti Madjro, a classic from the band's heyday.

Stars: 4/5

- TimeOut