BARA is the album’s zippy first single and highlight’s the call-and-response patterns of dodo, a singing and dance tradition of the Luo community in western Kenya. The groove soon turns mechanical, tying itself to the present with an industrial techno pulse.

Oyoya Nengo (which means „the most precious and expensive singer in the region” in the Dholuo language) initially met Kacirek in 2009 as part of this field recording project, The Kenya Sessions, and credits Kacirek for helping to launch her career, having worked together on the aforementioned Rang’ala. “That is why I like Sven, because Sven lift me up. I took him like my son, and Sven took me like his mother,” she says. What’s more, as neighbours in Kenya, Ratego and Nengo live just three minutes apart by motorbike, and have known each other for “a very long time”. These close bonds are the creative glue that holds PALAGOMA together.

Speaking of foundations, Kacirek provides an experimental electronic backdrop built mostly around the modular Buchla synth, exploring “new territory” with an instrument that, he says, “took a few years” to figure out. The magic of PALAGOMA lies in the tension between the vocals and sparse production; on the hypnotic Umanyo, dry bass thuds and rattling hi-hats cushion an honest song about trying – and failing – to succeed. This contrast creates an electric buzz that keeps the record in motion.

A noted mallet percussionist, Kacirek also weaves woody marimba into the fabric of PALAGOMA, where tempo shifts add a splash of drama. On Yore Yore, the pace suddenly picks up, tearing through a head-spinning clash of earthy and metal beats that lend urgency to Ratego’s intimate admission: ”Nobody knows me well. They think I am a woman, but I am a man”.

Ratego’s sharp vocal presence remains the album’s focus throughout, with his Dholuo-sung, self-styled “dodo blues” offering a “loose”, slowed-down spin on the custom. Knowledge of dodo – traditionally performed by women at weddings and other communal gatherings – was passed down to Ratego by his mother, and he is committed to keeping the style alive (while subverting tradition by taking on the singing himself). “It’s good to know your culture, where you come from, what our elder fathers used to do”, he states.

Likewise, OGOYA NENGO – born Anastasia Oluoch in 1943 – discovered her affinity for dodo as a young girl. Still, her international breakthrough didn’t come until her 70s, when she played European festivals such as Le Guess Who? with the Dodo Women’s Group – featuring three fellow female singers in their ‘60s and ‘70s, and two male drummers.

And Nengo continues to light up the international stage with her new collaborators in tow. Last summer, the trio road-tested the new material at Berlin’s DURCHLÜFTEN festival, playing a much-needed sunny day at the open-air Humboldt Forum following two weeks of solid rain – a stunning testament both to the power of PALAGOMA and the cracking chemistry of this collaborative three-piece.