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CD: Star Feminine Band
Musical input from Benin. The seven-person girl band challenges old traditions in their home country Benin and abroad. Pius Frey reviewed this great record for the current issue for the Afrika-Bulletin.
Finally a female band from Africa again. Seven young women between the ages of 11 and 17 dedicated to making music. Coming from the north of Benin, they call themselves Star Feminine Band. Their album of the same name bursts with energy. The musician André Baleguemon got this sweeping and passionate project rolling. He organized instruments for a band and searched for female players on a radio station. Young women came together full of enthusiasm and ideas. Some of these women learned to make music from scratch. This is how a women's orchestra emerged in the tradition of Amazones de Guinée or the Colombes de la Révolution from Burkina Faso. Star Feminine Band make powerful music and back it up with strong lyrics. They sing about the African woman who becomes the country's prime minister or deal with genital mutilation, abuse and violence against women. All of this full of passion and zest for action. Loud electric guitar meets voodoo rhythms. Psychedelic keyboard parts mix with desert blues. The singing is in French, Bariba and Fon. Solo and as choir. Danceable melodies between African pop, tradition, rock and reggae. A girl band that has it all and that you still want to hear over and over again.
This review was written in German by Pius Frey for the Africa Bulletin.