We say: A gastronomic world music buffet from western France.

Cinéma el Mundo is the tenth album from this longstanding French group. More a musical collective than simply a band, Lo'Jo have over the years collaborated with circus performers, theatre groups and musicians as diverse as Benin brass bands and Malian troubadours. Such is their bohemian approach to life and art that even today the various band members still live collectively in a large house near Angers in western France.

Musical influences have always been diverse—French chanson, Berber rhythms, beat poetry, dub, gypsy music—but Lo'Jo have long had their own distinctive voice to the extent that their sound is instantly recognizable. Part of this is down to the lead vocals of lyricist Denis Péan, a middle-aged French poet whose gruff vocals and ever-present trilby have encouraged some critics to describe him as a Gallic Tom Waits. Certainly, there is a parallel here, most notably the shamanic beat poet bit, but Péan is very much his own man. Supplementing Péan on vocals are Berber sisters Nadia and Yasmina Nid el Mourid, who provide close Middle East-inflected harmony, although their role within the band is far more central than that of mere backing singers (they play percussion, kora and soprano saxophone too). The lissom rhythm section of Kham Meslien on bass and Baptiste Brondy on drums underpins things handsomely, while the role of instrumental master of ceremonies is held by violinist Richard Bourreau who, along with Péan, is a founder member of thirty years standing. The empathy and originality of the playing is such that the combined effect is never less than synergistic, although there is always enough room to allow the music to breathe. Cinéma el Mundo also features a handful of guest musicians that include the evergreen Robert Wyatt, cello fusionist Vincent Segal and Ibrahim Ag Alhabib from the Tuareg desert rock merchants, Tinariwen.

Cinéma el Mundo works as an entity, each track flowing into the next one almost as if this were a concept album. "Tout Est Fragile" has a hint of the brittle delicacy that its title suggests, while "African Dub Crossing The Fantoms Of An Opera" conjures up African jazz fusion. "Zetwal" is a Waitsian circus waltz accompanied by a marching band, while the title track features the wordless multi-tracked vocals of Robert Wyatt—always a joy to hear—against lush pizzicato and unworldly harmonics. There is really little point in picking out outstanding tracks though, as they are all pretty good. Robert Plant is a fan. You should be too.