Around the World
9 January 2026
You can listen to Around the World on Mixcloud
The first hour
The second hour
This week
Music from: Algeria, Australia, Basque Country, Canada, Democratic Republic of the Congo, France, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, La Réunion, Mauritania, North Macedonia, Northern Ireland, Québec, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States.
Music by: Antoine Villoutreix & Super Antena Tropical, Balkan Taksim, Crown and Country, Dani Larkin, Divanhana, Eliza Carthy & The Restitution, Hartwin, Júlia Kozáková, Kiala & Afroblaster, King Stingray, Le Vent du Nord, Manu Dibango, Noura Mint Seymali, Nusantara Bea, Saodaj’, Saso Popovski, Silvana Estrada, Souad Massi, Syran Mbenza, Tempvs Fvgit, Terrae, The Kasambwe Brothers, Willos’ & Massimo Giuntini, and Xabi Aburruzaga.
Featured Album: Vendrán Suaves Lluvias by Silvana Estrada.
Silvana Estrada — Dime
Mexican singer‑songwriter Silvana Estrada has long been celebrated as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Latin American music, her work rooted in the sonorous traditions of Veracruz while reaching toward a global audience.
With Vendrán Suaves Lluvias, her new album and the follow‑up to the internationally acclaimed Marchita, Estrada delivers her most intimate and emotionally charged statement to date.
The album was born from a period of profound personal upheaval. After years of relentless touring, Estrada found herself exhausted and grieving the loss of close friends, a moment she describes as feeling “orphaned from so many things at once”. In response, she turned inward, crafting songs that seek beauty as a form of survival. Produced by Estrada with orchestral arrangements by Owen Pallett, the record blends delicate acoustic textures with sweeping strings, creating a sound world that is both fragile and cinematic.
Its title draws from a childhood memory: reading Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles, which ends with Sara Teasdale’s poem “There Will Come Soft Rains.” That image of hope emerging from desolation became a guiding metaphor for the album’s tone and themes. Tracks such as “Dime,” “Como un Pájaro,” and “No Te Vayas Sin Saber” feel handcrafted, guided by instinct rather than perfectionism, each one a quiet act of resilience.
Vendrán Suaves Lluvias stands as a testament to Estrada’s ability to transform sorrow into luminous art. It is not merely a collection of songs, but a meditation on the persistence of beauty—and the possibility of renewal—when life feels most uncertain.
Sources and References: Vendrán Suaves Lluvias - Album by Silvana Estrada - Apple Music - Rolling Stone - The Needle Drop - Clash Music - Our Culture - ww.forfolkssake.com
See also Silvana Estrada’s recent Tiny Desk Concert on NPR
WANTARRI (GIFT) - CROWN AND COUNTRY
I expect you’ll agree, some albums should be played from beginning to end – no interruptions – speaker or headphones up loud. Crown and Country by Crown and Country is one of those albums. One track singled out to play on the show doesn’t really do justice to the album.
Created by a collective of musicians and filmmakers, it positions itself somewhere between documentary and dreamscape, tracing the uneasy, often unspoken relationship between modern Australia and the stories that pre‑date it by millennia.
Crown and Country is a collaboration between a Warlpiri elder from northwest of Alice Springs, Central Australia, his son, and an electronic producer who’s been working in their community for years. it comes out of long-term relationships in Lajamanu in Northern Territory.
The music itself is pretty stripped back — spoken word, traditional Warlpiri singing, and spacious electronic textures underneath.
The music is part of a bigger project: there’s a film that goes with it, shot out in the Tanami Desert, and they’ve been showing it at festivals in Australia.
It’s a project about preserving and sharing cultural knowledge. But it’s so good to listen to.
ŠUN DEVLA - Júlia Kozáková - MANUŠA II
Júlia Kozáková has emerged as one of the most distinctive young voices in Central European music, building a career shaped by deep engagement with Roma traditions and a curiosity that has taken her across genres and borders. Born in Slovakia, she began singing traditional Slovak repertoire as a child before discovering the emotional and historical depth of Roma music, a discovery that would define her artistic path. Her early collaborations with Roma musicians in Slovakia helped her develop an authentic, empathetic approach to the tradition, one rooted in respect rather than appropriation.
Kozáková’s formal studies took her to London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, as well as to jazz and flamenco programmes in Seville and Brno, broadening her musical vocabulary and sharpening her interpretive instincts Green Note Viva Musica - Festival klasickej hudby. She has performed with ensembles including Čhavorenge, SOLE and O Gadže Bašaven, and toured Europe with the Romany children’s choir founded by Czech singer Ida Kelarová.
Her debut album Manuša (2022) brought her international attention, becoming the best‑performing Slovak world‑music release on the World Music Charts Europe and earning a Radio_Head Award for Best Slovak World Music Album. Supported by a band of leading Roma instrumentalists, the album showcased her warm, unforced vocal style and her ability to treat traditional songs as living cultural documents.
Kozáková continues to expand her artistic range with new projects, including MANUŠA II and the original concert programme Flor nueva, signalling an artist committed not only to preservation but to evolution.
Sources - Green Note - upbeatawards.eu - Viva Musica - Festival klasickej hudby
Where and when to hear Around the World
Friday:
Akaroa World Radio New Zealand - 2:00 pm local time
NAR-GROUP Germany – 6:00 pm local time
Mosel Radio Germany – 6:00 pm local time
NAR-Alf Germany – 6:00 pm local time
Waterwaves Radio England - 9:00 pm local time
Saturday:
Best City Radio (Belfast, Northern Ireland) - 6:00 am local time
Power 101FM Malawi - 11:00 local time
Flirt FM (Galway’s Community of Interest & Student Station) 101.3 - 10:45 am local time Ireland
Stirling Community Radio - 2:00 pm local time Scotland
RCFM (Radio City FM) Duisburg, Germany - 3:00 local time
U Radio - Sri Lanka 8:00pm - 10:00 pm local time
World FM New Zealand - 10:00 pm local New Zealand Time
Essential Radio Scotland - 12:00 midnight
Sunday:
West Coast FM Namibia - 10:00 am Central Africa Time
Power 101FM Malawi - 12:00 local time
NFRS Osaka Japan - 12:00 noon local time
973FM in Singapore - 11:00 pm local time
Circl8 Chester England - 12:00 noon local time
Best City Radio (Belfast, Northern Ireland) - 3:00 pm local time
Websound Radio (Larne Northern Ireland) - 8:00 pm local time
DCRFM (Dover Community Radio England - 7:00pm local time
Slice Audio Northern Ireland - 10:00 pm local time
Holywood Radio - Northern Ireland - Various times
Monday:
Armagh City Radio - 12:00 midnight local time (01:00 pm CET)
SparkFlame Radio - 00:00 am GMT (01:00 CET)
Circl8 Chester England - 12:00 noon local time
Stirling Community Radio Scotland - 10:00 pm local time
Waterwaves Radio England - 9:00 pm local time
BR2 Pure Gold Radio – Costa Blanca, Spain - 10:00 pm local time
Akaroa World Radio New Zealand - 10:00 pm local time
World FM New Zealand - 10:00 pm local time
Tuesday:
Shire Extra Lanarkshire, Scotland - 8:00 pm local time
Waterwaves Radio England - 9:00 pm local time
Wednesday:
World FM New Zealand - 4:00 am local time
Slice Audio Northern Ireland - 4:00 am local time
Life Right Radio London - 7:00 pm local time
Best City Radio Northern Ireland - 10:00 pm local time
Radio Skye Scotland - 10:00 pm local time
Thursday:
Waterwaves Radio England - 9:00 pm local time