Rwanda, you should be loved

"Rwandan folk trio, the Good Ones fight harsh reality with a sense of love and hope for their third album, Rwanda, You Should Be Loved ... it's undeniably marvelous to hear the Good Ones continue to thrive with the help of Ian Brennan's careful production. The group keeps rural styles of Rwanda alive and subtly vibrant on Rwanda, You Should Be Loved. Skillful, rootsy, and laying bare the group's strong interpretations of environs and emotions, this is an album that lends itself well to sensitive audiences of all sorts and is well worth listening to, feeling, and loving".

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"A collection of heartrending protest ballads by a trio of farmers from the genocide-scarred East African territory of Rwanda is not where you'd expect to find British rock's most fabled noisenik making a rare appearance. [Kevin] Shields, the My Bloody Valentine mastermind, lays a high, droning synth chord under "A Long Sad Journey Watching You Die", bringing a Kraut-y intensity to the song ... That muted contribution should bring welcome Western attention to the Good Ones' third LP. Their parched, skeletal songs, built around simple guitar figures, Appalachian-style harmonies and super-catchy tunes merit a wider audience".

"This recording - which was created on the farm of bandleader Adrien Kazigira (...) - is meaningful in many ways. It firstly represents the singing traditions and agricultural dialects of the local area, with striking harmonic similarities to American bluegrass. Secondly, the trio (...) are from each of Rwanda's three largest tribes, the Tutsi, Hutu and Abatwa. The band name (...) is a metaphor for finding the good in people after the passing of such unthinkable events as the Rwandan genocides. As would be expected from a live recording in an area without electricity or studio provisions, the sound is sparse, earthy and stripped back. There are no overdubs here, and the album is all the better for it. Kazigira's lyrics, translated in the sleeve notes, are heartbreaking odes to his daughter (...), his country and his huge personal losses. Havugimana and Kazigira's haunting harmonies and gritty, melancholic guitar passages are utterly beautiful (...), if at times overwhelmingly tragic".