Algeria music reviews

For her third album, which was a strong presence on the European world music charts throughout late 2005, the Algerian-born, Paris-based singer-songwriter has chosen to operate on a much larger scale. Mauritanian vocalist Daby Touré (a star in the making if there ever was one), Pascal Danaë, a French-born musician of Caribbean ancestry and the versatile Mino Cinelu on percussion are only a few of the capable artists appearing on the recording. The tunes are a mixed bag, jazzy, sophisticated yet for the most part true to their sources; clearly Massi is trying her wings as a composer. Ilhem ("Inspiration") a percussive gem fronted by chiming plucked strings, is infectiously extroverted and packs a strong West African/Touareg flavor, while Khalouni ("Let Me"), a North African-Iberian confection sung with a wonderful male singer named Rabah Kaifa, gets the blood moving. But the title track, with its limp Brazilian-inspired melody and MOR-like string arrangements, is less effective. Ultimately, although Massi's former one-on-one, almost perilously intimate rapport with the listener seems somewhat refracted these days, her message is as timely as ever. Her sensuous alto voice remains swooningly flexible yet serenely unadulterated, a miracle of confident, sensitive femininity. --Christina Roden