Abyati 19

Lyaman, an ensemble of four voices, identifies with a mystical and tolerant Islam in these islands, the Comoros, where religion has long played a role of opening up the world beyond. Steeped in Sufism, the singers here wish to be heard in a possibly secular setting. These voices, which sing the beauty and the love of God, are in unison, with deployed throats, intermingling the rhythmic parts with falsely static partitions. The dozen titles revisited through this album claims Indian Ocean orchestrations, fiercely defendedby the Comorians who grew up or lived in Madagascar.