Khruangbin & Vieux Farka Touré Share ‘Tongo Barra’ Single

Khruangbin and Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Touré released a new single, “Tongo Barra.” The song will land on their forthcoming collaborative album, Ali, set for release on September 23 via Dead Oceans/Night Time Stories Ltd.

Ali is a tribute to Vieux’s late father, highly influential Malian musician Ali Farka Touré, who pioneered the North African “desert blues” genre. The record is set to arrive the day after Republic Day, Mali’s national holiday marking the Republic of Mali’s independence from the Mali Federation on September 22nd, 1960.

Khruangbin and Vieux detailed Ali in July and shared the single “Savanne.” Touré and the Houston groove trio also teamed up for a recent concert at Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, with Vieux joining Khruangbin to perform the unreleased Ali track, “Mahine Me.”

The latest preview, “Tongo Barra,” features Touré’s shimmering guitar as well as his singing in the Malian Songhai dialect, underpinned by a galloping groove from Khruangbin. Listen to “Tongo Barra” in the visualizer video below: