Established collaborators, Malian kora master Ballaké Sissoko and British-Italian songwriter Piers Faccini deliver a delicate duo album for close listening, drifting, and contemplation. Inspired by the migration of nightingales, Our Calling paints a picture of a journey, one that weaves between skies. It’s a gentle, captivating body of work.
These poetic tunes are infused with vivid imagery, particularly themes connected to nature. Sissoko, renowned for his role in Malian music and his mastery of the kora, delicately ornaments and complements each ballad. Faccini, known for blending folk and world music influences, offers seasoned and sometimes whispery vocals: unforced and natural, without airs.
As with the first track, “One Half of a Dream,” aspects of the album evoke a call towards something familiar, both literal and spiritual. Whether exploring border crossings (“Mournful Moon” to “Ninna Nanna“), the ache of lost love (“By Your Hand“), or the dream of returning home (“If Nothing is Real”), these songs carry themes of nostalgia, underscored by the duo’s intended motif of migration.
This album thrives on subtlety and simplicity. While a few moments might benefit from a more dynamic shift or variation, there is much to appreciate in the fluid and organic interplay between Faccini and Sissoko.
More than just a collection of songs, Our Calling is an interwoven pastoral soundscape: earthy, fluid, and universal. Sissoko and Faccini play to their strengths, with the kora’s cascading or mirroring notes wrapping around gentle, organic, take-it-or-leave-it vocalisation. There’s also vulnerability and sincerity in the lyricism, inviting the listener to fully immerse themselves in the album’s journey.
This is clear in “Shadows Are”:
Shadows are but where they lie,
yours fell deep across my path.
Never forget, stay with me, until you depart
All souls go down with the light
Until they rise again as one
Though Malian at its core, with elements of English folk balladry, the warm, gentle, and immersive songs of Our Calling resist belonging to any single place or time.
Our Calling was released via Nø Førmat! on 14 February.
You can listen to the album and purchase your copy HERE