catrin finch & seckou keita

ECHO celebrates the tenth anniversary of an extraordinary partnership between two virtuosos whose previous releases include 2018's album SOAR and their 2013 debut Clychau Dibon ECHO marks the third part of this remarkable trilogy.

The harp and kora share centuries of history, and Catrin and Seckou create a unique dialogue in a musical alliance of rare empathy, inspired by differences and similarities. Their atmospheric magic crosses genre boundaries, from folk and world music to classical and contemporary as their fngers fow like opposing tributaries into a single river of sound. ECHO is the tender triumph of an extraordinary musical partnership that combines harp and kora, the modern and traditional, different cultures and common humanity. ECHO is the third album in a remarkable trilogy, marking ten years of one of the most successful cross-cultural global music collaborations of recent times. ECHO follows their award-winning previous releases SOAR (2018) and Clychau Dibon (2013) The seamless and virtuosic twinning of the 47 strings of Catrin Finch's harp with the 22 strings of Seckou Keita's kora – two cultures, two histories and two personalities merged into one atmospheric musical journey – has become a rare global music hit. Described by Songlines Magazine as the 'one of the most popular world music acts of this decade', Finch and Keita create music that not only champions their exquisite instruments but blends elements of new and old music from the Western Classical, Celtic, folk, contemporary and West African song traditions, revealing a striking common thread between different cultures and times. The pair have garnered multiple industry critics awards from fRoots and Songlines as well as Best Duo/Band at the 2019 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. They have topped the ofcial Independent Music Charts as well as the Transglobal World Music Charts and World Music Chart Europe. Finch and Keita have given over 200 performances together over the past 10 years across multiple tours and appearances at leading global music festivals including WOMAD, Shambala, Sfnks, Chicago World Music Festival, Hay Festival, Lorient Interceltic Festival, Sydney Opera House and the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. ECHO features string arrangements for the frst time in the duo's recorded output, played by violin, viola, cello and double bass.