Amadou & Mariam's new album, Welcome to Mali, receives its US release on Nonesuch in less than two weeks. In the latest issue of Time magazine, critic Josh Tyrangiel writes that, while the biography of this self-described "Blind Couple of Mali" may easily elicit empathy, instead, Amadou & Mariam, through their music and their actions, "go out of their way to assert that things are pretty great with them, thanks. To understand just how great, listen to the pair's fifth album, Welcome to Mali, out March 24."

Tyrangiel calls the album "a joyous, hook-filled guitar album with impressive range." The album's opening track, "Sabali," produced by Blur/Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn, may be "light and giddy" with musical references to "pure '80s pop, sweeter than cheap champagne," but it does so "with soul."

He notes that influences from Western rock legends like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Neil Young come through in Amadou's guitar licks, showing "he's most at home using African styles to flavor rock melodies." It's that blend of styles that winds throughout the record. "Everything has a familiar pop structure," says Tyrangiel, "but there's just enough African instrumentation to provide a thrilling sense of dislocation."

Read the full review at time.com.

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The duo are also featured in the Spotlight at CMJ.com, where writer Lisa Hresko calls them "truly a romantic musical success."

Hresko insists that "Welcome to Mali is not to be cast off as cultural art du jour, but rather hailed as a global pop phenomenon." In an interview Amadou, she discusses the cross-cultural influences referenced in the Time review, but notes that "embracing a borderless sound does not mean the duo has ignored the traditional music from their homeland. Instead, Welcome to Mali embraces modern West African blues, demonstrated through Bagayoko’s master guitar skills."

Read the article at cmj.com.