Baka Beyond return with first album in 12 years

The 11-track album, released through March Hare Music, draws on the musical traditions and voices of Baka women who have worked with Baka Beyond founders Martin Cradick and Su Hart since they first travelled to Cameroon in 1992.

The project grew out of Cradick’s master’s dissertation at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, completed under ethnomusicologist Lucy Durán. It focuses particularly on yeli, an ancient form of wordless polyphonic singing traditionally performed by Baka women.

The album also pays tribute to Loni, whose voice featured on Baka Beyond’s 1994 debut album, Spirit of the Forest, and Nahwia, who died recently. Nahwia was among the Baka women who welcomed Cradick and Hart when they first entered Baka territory in Cameroon.

“At its heart is a tribute to Nahwia, whose recent passing is deeply felt,” the band said. “It was Nahwia’s warmth, wisdom and generosity that welcomed Martin Cradick and Su Hart into Baka territory in Cameroon in 1992, marking the beginning of a lifelong friendship and cultural exchange.”

“Through Sing the World Awake, the voices of both Loni and Nahwia continue to resonate across generations,” it added.

The Baka are an Indigenous, semi-nomadic forest-dwelling people whose ancestral territories extend across parts of Cameroon, Gabon and the Republic of Congo. Their musical traditions include complex forms of polyphonic singing that have attracted international attention for their cultural and spiritual significance.

According to Cradick, the album’s title was inspired by the Baka understanding of music as a means of connecting with the natural and spiritual world. He said the title emerged while recording ‘The Swift’, a song reflecting this relationship.

“The Baka believe that forest spirits are ever-present—not malicious, though sometimes mischievous or dangerous—and that they are called through music, song and dance,” Cradick said. “These three expressions are all encompassed by the single Baka word—Bé. When performed with sincerity, the spirits come to dance with the people, creating joy and dissolving life's burdens.”

The album combines archival field recordings with newly recorded instrumentation. Cradick said he developed guitar parts around the original recordings before arranging the material with Baka Beyond.

“It all began after I completed my master’s dissertation at SOAS, inspired by the Baka women’s yeli singing,” he said. “I worked out guitar parts that fitted the original field recordings, then developed the songs with the band until we found the right groove. The live rhythm section was exactly what was needed to bring the music alive.”

One of the tracks, ‘We Miss You’, has particular significance for Cradick because it features Nahwia’s voice.

“The track ‘We Miss You’ is especially meaningful to me because the singer who opens the song, Nahwia, died last year. I first met her in 1992, and she was always there, singing with us and helping us whenever we were in the forest,” he said.

Baka Beyond was formed following Cradick and Hart’s first visit to the Cameroon rainforest in 1992. The group subsequently developed a sound combining traditional Baka music with Celtic folk and West African influences, while introducing elements of Baka musical culture to audiences outside Central Africa.

The group has also sought to ensure that Baka communities benefit financially from the music shared with them. In 1995, Cradick and Hart established Global Music Exchange, a charity intended to return royalties to Baka musicians and communities.

Through the organisation, funds have supported the development of community infrastructure, including a music centre with recording facilities, education and healthcare services. Other funds are distributed directly to individuals or used to address wider community needs.

Sing the World Awake continues Baka Beyond’s long-running approach of combining field recordings and traditional musical practices with contemporary instrumentation, while placing the relationships behind the recordings at the centre of the project.