Abyssinia Infinite featuring Ejigayehu "Gigi" Shibabaw "Zion Roots"
Network Medien

Unlike so much of popular African music, Abyssinia Infinite has moved back to using traditional acoustic instruments and playing more traditional songs.

It's a welcome enough revival, but, with the addition of Ethiopian vocalist, Gigi, the result is positively transcendental.

Gigi, nicknamed "Gift from God," has a soaring voice that is especially powerful when she's simply vocalizing on devotional songs such as "Gela."

Songs like 'Alesema' collect modern and ancient influences with acoustic guitar, the kirar harp and tabla. In "Gole," introduced by a thin bamboo flute, Gigi's chants merge into a trancelike swirl.

Everything, old and new, East and West, come together in the closer, "Ethiopia," a slow, hopeful, spiritual that again features Gigi's singing improvisationally over a steady heartbeat of hand drums and electronica.