Sós Fol Musica****

One of World Music's most original voices, Mercedes Peón spent 15 years studying the rugged traditions of her native Galicia, collecting songs and mastering the local "gaita" bagpipes. After three albums that drew on those traditions and thrillingly modernised them, she reaches a new creative peak with Sós. (Galician for "alone", although, curiously, the handsome metal box sports the Morse Code distress symbol!) Here she recasts herself as essentially a solo artist with a bank of electronics and samplers, with live instruments relegated to the wings. Peón's voice is superbly expressive, from open-throated Galician warrior style through tribal chanting reminiscent of North Africa to playful and cooing. All takes place within a multi-layered, almost urban, sound collage powered by rhythmic undercurrents which rapidly shift and change direction. Inventive and fascinating. See boa.es

Download tracks: Sao Paulo, Babel, Falar millor