Album: Nuru Kane, Exile (Riverboat Records)

Along with the dry, rasping sound of the guimbri (a three-stringed lute) that's always been his trademark instrument, it's this London-based Senegalese singer-songwriter's urgent frayed voice that gives this eclectic set cohesion.

His previous albums have been energetic but rough around the edges. Here musical ideas (embracing everything from gnawa to reggae) have been better followed through, resulting in his most accessible effort to date.