Around the World - Preview
6 February 2026
You can listen to Around the World on Mixcloud
The first hour is here on Mixcloud
The second hour is here on Mixcloud
This Week
Music from: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Cape Verde, Czech Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guinea, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Mali, Netherlands, Nigeria, South Korea, Spain, Ukraine, and Venezuela.
Music by: Adrian Crowley, BaianaSystem, Barezzi, Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, DakhaBrakha, Dorota Barová, Gangbé Brass Band, Gugaknori, Laufey, Le Diable à Cinq, Mama Sissoko, Maryam Saleh, Muluken Melesse, Nerses Nibandian, N’Faly Kouyaté, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Raül Refree & Maria Mazzotta, San Miguel Fraser, Siân Pottok, The Three Seas, Tone Of Voice Orchestra, TRU, and Yin Yin.
This Week’s Featured Album: Esperança by Nancy Vieira & Fred Martins
Nancy Vieira e Fred Martins - “Colibri”
Esperança brings together two established Lusophone (Portuguese speaking) artists whose careers have long circled similar themes of migration, identity, and musical heritage. Cape Verdean singer Nancy Vieira, born in Guinea‑Bissau and raised in Praia before settling in Portugal, has become one of the most respected contemporary interpreters of Cape Verde’s song traditions. Her work is marked by clarity of phrasing, understated emotional weight, and a commitment to the melodic and poetic roots of morna and coladeira.
Brazilian songwriter and guitarist Fred Martins, originally from Rio de Janeiro and now based in Europe, is known for harmonically rich compositions shaped by samba, bossa nova, and the politically aware songwriting lineage of Brazil. His guitar style — intricate but unshowy — and his interest in lyrical storytelling have made him a sought‑after collaborator across the Lusophone world.
Their partnership on Esperança is grounded in shared musical values rather than stylistic fusion for its own sake. Vieira’s warm, unforced vocal delivery sits against Martins’s subtle guitar work and restrained arrangements, creating a sound world that is intimate, acoustic, and deliberately uncluttered. The production favours space: light percussion, occasional strings, and arrangements that foreground voice and guitar.
The album’s title signals its thematic direction. While both artists come from cultures shaped by movement and diaspora, the songs lean toward resilience rather than nostalgia. The material reflects everyday forms of hope — continuity, memory, and the sustaining power of community — without resorting to sentimentality.
Esperança stands as a meeting of two mature artists who understand the weight of their respective traditions and approach them with care. It is a cross‑Atlantic collaboration built on craft, cultural continuity, and a shared belief in the quiet strength of song.
N’Faly Kouyate Free Water ft Tiken Jah Fakoly
N’Faly Kouyaté: Crossing
Guinean multi‑instrumentalist and vocalist N’Faly Kouyaté has built his career on bridging West African tradition with contemporary global sounds, and Crossing captures that mission with clarity. A hereditary griot from the Mandinka lineage, he is known for his mastery of the kora, balafon, and for a vocal style that moves easily between ancestral storytelling and modern arrangement.
Released as a statement of cultural dialogue, Crossing blends acoustic roots with electronic textures, reflecting Kouyaté’s long experience working across borders — from his solo projects to his prominent role in the Afro‑Celt Sound System. The album explores themes of migration, identity, and the transmission of heritage, using layered instrumentation and rhythmic interplay to connect West African musical language with European and global influences.
At its core, Crossing is a portrait of an artist honouring tradition while expanding its reach, offering a contemporary griot’s view of a world in motion.
Souad Massi - D’ici, De là-bas (Clip officiel) ft. Gaël Faye
Souad Massi’s forthcoming album promises a renewed clarity of purpose, blending her luminous songwriting with a sharper social and emotional edge. The new single, “D’ici, De là-bas,” featuring Franco‑Rwandan artist Gaël Faye, sets the tone beautifully. It’s a poised, quietly urgent reflection on identity, distance, and the pull of multiple homelands. Massi’s warm, unhurried vocal line intertwines with Faye’s measured, poetic flow, creating a conversation that feels both personal and widely resonant. The track hints at an album rooted in empathy and lived experience, carrying Massi’s storytelling into a deeper, more expansive register.
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
MoonFM, Montana - 6:00 pm (Mountain Standard Time)
DCRFM (Dover Community Radio England - 7:00pm local time
Websound Radio (Larne Northern Ireland) - 8:00 pm local time
Prodigal Sun Radio - 8:00 pm 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