The journey of this 1998 record's title is a very literal one, as experienced by Maryam Mursal and her five children when they underwent a seven-month odyssey - on foot, by donkey, by truck - to escape the trials and tribulations of their native Somalia. That this harrowing journey is recounted in such an uplifting, positive and downright funky manner is far more than we have a right to expect. A diamond-hard rhythm section and chunky horns lay the foundation for Maryam's passionate, soul-dripping voice.

Eventually finding asylum in Denmark, Maryam began to think about rebuilding her singing career. Throughout her remarkable journey she had kept a journal and it provided powerful material for her songwriting. At the same time by happy coincidence she met up with the Danish arranger Søren Kjaer Jensen. Jensen had come across Maryam's music when working in Somalia as a freelance photographer in 1986 and had recorded her extraordinary voice from a radio broadcast. Visiting a Somalian immigrant camp in Denmark he heard her singing to 300 fellow refugees and realized it was the same voice. Jensen brought Maryam to the attention of Real World.

The Journey is a highly charged modern take on Maryam's Somalian roots. Produced by Simon Emmerson and Martin Russell (Afro Celt Sound System) with Jensen, it features guitars, sequencers and backing vocals from Peter Gabriel, yet never strays far from its African origins. "She's amazing, she's got everything," Emmerson says. As an instant African classic thrillingly uniting the ancient and modern he puts the album on a par with Baaba Maal's incendiary "Firin In Fouta," which he also produced.

Maryam is perfectly at ease working with a more contemporary approach. She began singing professionally as a teenager in Mogadishu in 1966, the first woman in a deeply male-dominated Islamic society. Brought up in the Muslim faith, she was steeped in the traditional music of her country - a rem.......
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