In partnership with super producer Jeff Bhasker (Rihanna, Kanye West, Harry Styles, Bruno Mars, Drake, Jay-Z) they created 'Remain In Light'- a project that finds the Benin-born artist reclaiming rock for Africa, bringing the Talking Heads' landmark 1980 album full circle. The record is a track-by-track re-imagination of the original, considered to be one of the greatest albums of the ‘80s and deeply influenced by music from West Africa, notably Fela Kuti's afrobeat. With her version of 'Remain In Light’ (out June 8/Kravenworks Records), Angélique celebrates the genius of Talking Heads, Brian Eno and the touchstones that made the original so revered and injects it with her euphoric singing, explosive percussion, horn orchestrations, and select lyrics performed in languages from her home country.

Remain in Light feels like an album that Kidjo was born to sing; never has she sounded so convincing, so powerful
— SONGLINES
As ‘Remain In Light’ was influenced by the music of my continent, I want to pay back the homage and create my own African take on Talking Heads’ songs
— ANGELIQUE KIDJO

"REMAIN IN LIGHT"

TRACKLIST

  1. Born Under Punches

  2. Crosseyed and Painless

  3. The Great Curve

  4. Once in a Lifetime

  5. Houses in Motion

  6. Seen and Not Seen

  7. Listening Wind

  8. The Overload

‘Remain In Light’ features appearances by Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend, Blood Orange, Tony Allen, Angelique’s longtime guitarist Dominic James, and Magatte Sow (percussionist for the ‘Black Panther’ film score). Visual artist Kerry James Marshall collaborated on the album artwork.

“BORN UNDER PUNCHES”

We all know that rock music came from the blues and thus from Africa. Now is the time to bring rock back to Africa, connect our minds, and bring all our sounds to a new level of sharing and understanding.
— ANGELIQUE KIDJO

"ONCE IN A LIFETIME"

A Breakthrough ‘80s Album Taken Back to Africa
— The New York Times