Album reviews – Page 15 – World Music Central

Deep red and burnt orange fields form an abstract, weathered background with thin black lines looping and crossing the surface. The group name appears on the left, while the album title Close To Nothing sits in small white type at the upper right. Three musician names stack beneath the band name, and a tiny record-label emblem rests in the lower corner.

Album reviews

EH3 Returns With New Jazz-Rock Set, Close To Nothing

EH3 / Erland Helbø Trio – Close To Nothing (Losen Records, 2025) Close To Nothing is the second release from EH3 / Erland Helbø Trio,…

The cover bursts with bright tropical colors. “Gio Chamba” stretches across the top in heavy navy lettering over a gradient of orange, green, and yellow. Stylized palms, stars, and abstract geometric patterns frame a central green plant shape dotted with lively circles. The title Tropidelicos appears in rounded yellow letters along the middle.

Album reviews

Gio Chamba Cranks Up Psychedelic Cumbia On Tropidelicos

Iliana Cabrera January 25, 2026 No Comments Gio Chamba world music

Gio Chamba – Tropidelicos (Mixto Records, 2025) Houston duo Gio Chamba released their new album Tropidelicos not long ago. The eight-track set is characterized by…

A golden desert scene frames four figures in black-and-gold ceremonial dress, centered before a halo. A smoking vessel centers the composition, while pyramids and a stylized city rise in the background beneath a star-filled sky. The title Ntu Futurism appears below, with L8 Antique above in metallic lettering.

Album reviews

NTU Futurism And A Cosmic Spin On Afro-Futurism

Tyler Bennet January 24, 2026 No Comments world fusion world music

L8 Antique – NTU Futurism (2025) South African ensemble L8 Antique has released its debut album, NTU Futurism, a project rooted in African spirituality and…

The Camino Trunco cover presents a high-contrast illustration of a lone figure holding a guitar, rendered in black against a pale field. Around him, line drawings of rolling hills, village forms, and a mythic animal shape.

Album reviews

Marco Grancelli Hits The Road With Camino Trunco

Iliana Cabrera January 22, 2026 No Comments Argentine music Marco Grancelli world music

Marco Grancelli – Camino Trunco (self-released, 2025) Argentine musician and composer Marco Grancelli recorded Camino Trunco, his first solo album, in various studios throughout 2024…

Syran Mbenza - Rumba Africa cover artwork. Syran seated playing an electric guitar.

Album reviews

Rumba Legend Syran Mbenza Returns With Rumba Africa After 16-Year Pause

Angel Romero January 20, 2026 3 Comments African music Congolese music Congolese rumba Syran Mbenza world music

Syran Mbenza – Rumba Africa (Hysa Productions HYSADIG1133, 2025) Congolese guitarist Syran Mbenza celebrated his 75th year in 2025 with the release of Rumba Africa,…

Canto Con Vos by Guillaume Lopez. The cover shows a solitary figure seen from behind, facing a layered landscape where desert ground, small buildings, and distant mountains overlap beneath a turquoise sky.

Album reviews

Canto Con Vos: Guillaume Lopez Hits The Road With A Mobile Studio

Iliana Cabrera January 18, 2026 No Comments Argentine music Guillaume Lopez tango world music

Guillaume Lopez – Canto con Vos (Irfan le Label, 2025) Singer and multi-instrumentalist Guillaume Lopez released Canto Con Vos (I Sing with You) in late…

The album cover for Eternal Birth by Eliza Marshall presents a portrait in amber tones. A close-up of Eliza. She leans inward with eyes closed, hair cascading loosely, hands adorned with rings and bracelets. Handwritten-style typography.

Album reviews

Eliza Marshall’s Debut, Eternal Birth, Inspired by Thomas Hardy

Angel Romero January 16, 2026 No Comments Eliza Marshall world music

Eliza Marshall – Eternal Birth (One World Records, 2026) Award-winning flutist and composer Eliza Marshall will release her splendid debut solo album, Eternal Birth, on…

Album reviews

Spellbinding Shadow Folk: Antinoë Bends Darkness On ‘The Fold’

Angel Romero January 13, 2026 No Comments Antinoë dark folk neoclassical progressive folk progressive rock

Antinoë – The Fold (Dark Essence Records, 2025) Antinoë presents The Fold, a hauntingly beautiful chamber-like convergence of neoclassical folk, melancholy pop, progressive rock-style arrangements…

Young Flowers: Music of Kazakhs from Orenburg Region cover artwork. A collage of photos of the artists.

Album reviews

Young Flowers Reclaims Kazakh Roots in Russia

Tyler Bennet January 12, 2026 No Comments Kazakh music world music

Various Artists – Young Flowers: Music of Kazakhs from Orenburg Region (Antonovka Records, 2024) On Young Flowers, a field recording compilation from the Adamovsky district…

The cover for Unimaginable Things presents blue-green tones. Two girls appear on swings.

Album reviews

Chicago Songwriter Dana Maragos Goes National With Unimaginable Things

Ryan Emmert January 11, 2026 No Comments Dana Maragos

Dana Maragos – Unimaginable Things (Dana Maragos, 2025) Dana Maragos released Unimaginable Things nationwide on December 12, 2025. The album first came out as a…