Francis Bebey’s African electronic music 1975-1982

Francis Bebey, a Cameroonian who resided in Paris for most of his life, took a circuitous route to a career in pop music.

Francis Bebey, a Cameroonian who resided in Paris for most of his life, took a circuitous route to a career in pop music. By the time he started experimenting with electronic instruments in the mid- 1970s, he had several career changes and 45 years of living under his belt. He was the quintessential Renaissance man, with stints as a novelist, sculptor, broadcaster and diplomat before he set about realising his musical dreams.

Music was his first love and it’s what brought him to France initially to study at the Sorbonne in the early 1950s. The restless curiosity that spurred him into trying his hand at so many diverse disciplines found its true expression in the recording studio, where he boldly disregarded convention and went about his work using the most expansive sonic palette possible.

His prodigious output over the next decade yielded a couple of dozen multi-faceted LPs of hugely contrasting styles and impressive thematic variation. A willingness to stray far from the acoustic guitar-based merger of European and African pop styles that was his forte is what makes this compilation such a treasure trove of uncommonly seductive strangeness.

There’s something endearing about the way he unselfconsciously explores this new terrain. The indomitable spirit of a true adventurer is palpable. Frequently, gold is struck. Wuma Te is a shimmering example . A circular pattern of percussive rhythms underpins this funky walk on the wild side. Waves of synthesizer sounds ebb and flow around the free-floating melody. Bebey’s vocal delivery is impeccably suave and almost Bowie-like on the high notes. He appears to glide on the beat so easy and effortless is the word-flow in his native Duala tongue.

A blaze of colour ushers in the crescendo. New horizons are in sight and it’s full steam ahead.