The first thing we noticed about this new album by Habib Koite is that his longtime backing band Bamada seems to have disappeared into thin air. The Malian bard has indeed surrounded himself with a lot of young talent, but his musical recipe has changed little in all these years. With title track 'Soô' ("home") Koite wants to underline the importance a home can have, for 'Terere', an ode to the Malian musicians who cleared the path, Habib got the help of Toumani Diabate and Bassekou Kouyate and with 'Balon Tan' he's getting us ready for the upcoming World Cup soccer in Brazil this summer. The songs in English ('Need You' and 'L.A.', which was already featured on 'Brothers In Bamako', the album Habib recorded with Eric Bibb) 'Soô' could have done without.