This album is not just another nicely packaged world music artefact. Nor is it an academic attempt to archive Afro-Malagasy and Tamil heritage. Firstly, we don’t recognise the concept of ‘traditional music’. As with all concepts, of course, it serves a purpose. But music cultures have never been something fixed in time and space, something that can describe a permanent identity – on the contrary, they have always been rather fluid. The fixed, permanent trope is the domain of politics and institutional religion. Nowhere can this fluidity be observed better than in creole cultures worldwide. Already a blend of African, Malagasy, Tamil and European influences, maloya is now in the process of yet another transformation. This album is a bridge between the old-school, instrumental maloya and the thriving electro maloya scene. Played at private kabaré ceremonies by well-respected gramouns, maloya has been at the heart of Reunionese culture for generations. Can the kabaré – steeped in spiritualism, devotion and magic – become digital? Can a new form of maloya be a vehicle for the complexity of local social contexts? These questions are not unknown to the artists of new wave electro maloya. With this album, Jako Marron, EMB, Boogzbrown, Aleksand Saya and Loya strive to provide the answers.