The Very Best

Serendipity in a used-furniture shop has led to a modern Afropop gem. A few years ago, Malawi expat Esau Mwamwaya was working in a London thrift store when he befriended two local DJs, Etienne Tron and Johan Karlberg. The pancultural clash makes for a wonderful platter of tropical synth-pop on Warm Heart of Africa.

Tron and Karlberg craft surprisingly gentle beats, meeting halfway between U.K. pop and funky highlife. Sunny keyboards burst through twinkling percussion. Cheerful new-wave cuts such as “Chalo” and “Mfumu” could pass for diced-and-spliced Bruce Hornsby or U2 hits. Heck, even sonic agitator M.I.A. is reined in to near Paul Simon–like threat levels on the drum-heavy “Rain Dance.”

Detours into trance (“Nsokoto”) and hip-hop (“Julia”) underline this seamlessly eclectic record’s strength: Pop-music fusion can still serve up something fresh. Collaboration (and possibly old sofas) is key.

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