This week on Around the World
You can listen to Around the World on Mixcloud
The first hour - The second hour
Music from: Australia, Brazil, California, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Gabon, Hungary, India, Ireland, Lebanon, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Portugal, Puglia, Romania, Rwanda, Sicily, Slovakia, Sudan, Sweden, and Wales
Music by: Africa Express, Amira Kheir, Baklava & Elena Baklava, Bruno Morais, Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, Cerys Hafana, Emma Donovan, Estaca Zero, Fanfare Ciocărlia & Adrian Raso, Fränder, Gyedu-Blay Ambolley, Janine Mathias, Mauro Durante & Justin Adams, Molde, Molly Tuttle, Neha!, o Rom, Poor Creature, Raghu Dixit, Roberta Gulisano, Söndörgő, Tania Saleh, The Good Ones, Tita Nzebi, and Tuuletar.
This week’s Featured Album: Angel by Cerys Hafana
Cerys Hafana
Cerys Hafana - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Welsh folk experimentalist Carys Hafana has returned with her much-anticipated new album, Angel, an exploration of sound, tradition, and personal mythos. Known for her command of the triple harp, Hafana has crafted a record that is both intimate as it is expansive.
Released to critical acclaim, Angel builds on the foundations of Hafana's previous work while venturing into bolder, more atmospheric territories. The album seamlessly blends traditional Welsh folk melodies with ambient electronics, minimalist textures, and the haunting, ethereal drones of the triple harp.
Lyrically, Angel is a personal journey. Hafana draws on Welsh folklore, spiritual imagery, and self-reflection. The songs explore themes of loss, resilience, and the search for solace in a chaotic world.
Speaking about the album, Hafana described it as "an attempt to find the sacred in the everyday, to create a small pocket of peace." This intention shines through. Angel isn't just an album to be listened to; it's an experience to be felt—a modern-day hymnbook for the soul.
With Angel, Carys Hafana has solidified her position as one of the most innovative and compelling voices in contemporary folk music.
Gyedu-Blay Ambolley
Gyedu-Blay Ambolley - Afrika Yie (Live on KEXP)
Ghanaian highlife legend Gyedu-Blay Ambolley recently released "Wake Up Africa," a vibrant call for unity and consciousness. Known as the originator of the "Simigwa" genre, which fuses highlife with rap, Ambolley continues his signature blend of Afro-beat, funk, and jazz. The album addresses themes of neo-colonialism and calls on African leaders to inspire positive change for the continent. With its infectious rhythms and powerful social commentary, "Wake Up Africa" is a testament to Ambolley's enduring musical and cultural significance.
ELENA BAKLAVA - Bayrak/Flag/Знаме (Official Music Video)
Macedonian band Baklava blends Balkan folk with modern textures. Elena Baklava’s solo album Yorukluk explores nomadic identity through ethnomusicology.
Released in the summer of 2025, the album is a deeply personal project inspired by the culture and traditions of the Yörüks, a nomadic people with a rich history in the Balkans. "Yorukluk" blends traditional instrumentation and melodies with contemporary electronic soundscapes and complex, irregular rhythms, creating a sound that is both traditional and innovative. The album has been praised for its boundless creativity and heartfelt exploration of cultural heritage.
Other music on this week’s show
Molly Tuttle: American bluegrass virtuoso known for her flatpicking guitar style and genre-blending songwriting. She’s a Grammy winner and frontwoman of Golden Highway. Her new album is So Long Little Miss Sunshine
Estaca Zero: Portuguese band blending traditional folk with contemporary sounds, often rooted in regional rhythms and poetic lyrics.
Africa Express: A cross-cultural collective founded by Damon Albarn, uniting African and Western musicians to collaborate across genres and borders.
Tania Saleh: Lebanese singer-songwriter fusing Arabic music with jazz, rock, and folk. Her lyrics often explore identity, politics, and feminism.
Poor Creature is comprised of Ruth Clinton, Cormac MacDiarmada and John Dermody, all three are members of other bands (Landless and Lankum respectively) who have built a large following on re-interpreting songs from the past. Songs that have existed for centuries can seem immutable and anchored to time. A new generation of Irish musicians are keen to acknowledge that musical legacy, while reimagining the songs within a contemporary context.
Roberta Gulisano: Italian singer-songwriter from Sicily, known for her poetic lyrics and blending of folk traditions with modern arrangements.
Söndörgő: Hungarian band specializing in Balkan and South Slavic music, especially the tambura tradition. Their energetic performances are rooted in heritage.
Emma Donovan: Eminently soulful and possessing a voice that powerfully conveys both vulnerability and strength, Emma Donovan is one of Australia's most revered singers and songwriters. An Indigenous artist with Gumbaynggirr and Yamatji heritage, her music is a compelling fusion of soul, funk, and R&B, deeply rooted in storytelling and her cultural identity.
Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino: Italy’s longest-running traditional music ensemble from Salento. They modernize pizzica and tarantella with electrifying performances.
Mauro Durante & Justin Adams: Italian percussionist Mauro (of CGS) and British guitarist Justin fuse pizzica trance rhythms with blues, rock, and North African grooves.
Tuuletar: Finnish vocal quartet pioneering “vocal folk hop.” They mix Finnish poetry, beatboxing, and global influences into a bold a cappella sound.
Tita Nzebi: Gabonese singer blending Nzebi tribal traditions with Afro-folk. Her music explores heritage, migration, and social themes.
Fränder: Swedish-Estonian folk band crafting modern acoustic music with traditional instruments and haunting harmonies. Their sound is dubbed “heavy folk”.
Janine Mathias: Afro-Brazilian singer from Brasília, blending samba, rap, and soul. Her album Dendê celebrates Black Brazilian identity and resistance.
'o Rom: Neapolitan collective merging Romani and Southern Italian folk with ska, rap, and Balkan grooves. Their album Radio Rom is a manifesto of coexistence.
The Good Ones: Rwandan formed post-genocide, singing in Kinyarwanda with acoustic guitars and farm tools. Their music is raw, healing, and deeply spiritual.
Amira Kheir: Sudanese-Italian singer dubbed “Diva of the Sudanese Desert.” Her music fuses Nubian melodies, jazz, and soul with multilingual vocals.
Friday:
Akaroa World Radio 2:00 pm local New Zealand Time (3:00 am GMT 4:00 am CET)
NAR-GROUP Germany – 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m (CET)
Mosel Radio – 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m (CET)
NAR-Alf – 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m (CET)
Waterwaves Radio: 9:00 pm GMT (22:00 CET)
Saturday:
Power 101FM Malawi: 11:00 local time
Flirt FM (Galway's Community of Interest & Student Station) 101.3 10:45 am - 12 45 pm
RCFM (Radio City FM) Duisburg, Germany 3:00 – 5:00 pm CET
U Radio - Sri Lanka 8:00pm - 10:00 pm local time
World FM 10:00 pm local New Zealand Time (11:00 am GMT, 12:00 noon CET)
Essential Radio Midnight to 2:00 am GMT (1:00 am CET)
Sunday:
West Coast FM Namibia 10:00 pm to 12:00 noon Central Africa Time (2:00 to 4:00 GMT)
Power 101FM Malawi: 12:00 local time
NFRS Osaka Japan: 12:00 noon local time (3:00 am UK time 4:00 am CET)
973FM in Singapore and 11:00 pm local time (3:00 pm/15:00 hours UTC – Universal Time).
Circl8 Chester: 12:00 noon
Best City Radio (Belfast) 3:00 pm
Websound Radio (Larne) 8:00 pm
DCRFM (Dover Community Radio 7:00pm
Slice Audio 10:00 pm local time (11:00 pm CET)
Monday:
Armagh City Radio 00:00 pm local time (01:00 pm CET)
SparkFlame Radio: 00:00 am GMT (01:00 CET)
Circl8 Chester: 12:00 noon
Stirling Community Radio 8:00 pm GMT (9:00 pm CET)
Waterwaves Radio: 9:00 pm GMT (22:00 CET)
BR2 Pure Gold Radio – Costa Blanca, Spain 10:00 pm local time (CET)
Akaroa World Radio 10:00 pm local New Zealand Time (11:00 am GMT, 12:00 noon CET)
World FM 10:00 pm local New Zealand Time (11:00 am GMT, 12:00 noon CET)
Tuesday:
Shire Extra: 8:00 pm GMT (21:00 CET)
Waterwaves Radio: 9:00 pm GMT (22:00 CET)
Wednesday:
World FM 4:00 am local New Zealand Time (5:00 pm Tuesday GMT, 6:00 pm CET)
Slice Audio 4:00 am local time GMT (5:00 am CET)
Life Right Radio (London) 7:00 pm
Best City Radio (Belfast) 10:00 pm
Radio Skye (Radio Garden) 10:00 pm GMT (11:00 pm CET)
Thursday:
LIVE DRN1 Perth Western Australia - 9:00 p.m. local time (2:00 pm CET)
Waterwaves Radio: 9:00 pm GMT (22:00 CET)