The follow-up to 2019’s Celia (her Grammy Award-winning, critically lauded tribute to Celia Cruz), Mother Nature fulfills a promise Angélique Kidjo first made upon accepting the award for Best Global Music Album at the 2016 Grammys, then reiterated after winning the Best World Music Album prize in 2020 and proudly proclaiming: “The new generation of artists coming from Africa are going to take you by storm, and the time has come.” To that end, Mother Nature confronts such pressing issues as racial inequity and the climate crisis, once again proving the longtime activist’s rare power to transform complex subject matter into music that’s radiantly joyful.

Right from its very first seconds, Mother Nature offers a euphoric departure from the chaos of the modern world. A mesmerizing duet between Kidjo and Zimbabwean-American singer/songwriter Shungudzo, the album-opening “Choose Love” centers on a sparse arrangement of their finely layered vocals, wholly echoing the song’s spirit of connection. Later on the album, Shungudzo reunites with Kidjo for the gorgeously tender “Meant for Me,” this time blending their voices with soft and shimmering guitar tones to sublime effect. On “Dignity,” Nigerian singer/songwriter Yemi Alade and Kidjo pair up for a powerful anthem inspired by the youth-led movement to disband the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (aka SARS, an infamously corrupt unit in the Nigerian Police Force).

Another song revealing Kidjo’s gift for gracefully merging the personal and political, Mother Nature’s title track emerges as a groove-heavy call to action against climate change. In her glorious push to galvanize her audience into fighting for a brighter world, Kidjo also delivers such powerhouse tracks as “Do Yourself,” a fiery collaboration with Grammy Award-winning Nigerian singer/songwriter/rapper Burna Boy. Elsewhere on Mother Nature, Kidjo teams up with Atlanta-bred hip-hop duo EARTHGANG, who lend their psychedelic-leaning sensibilities to “Take It Or Leave It” (a hypnotic but breezy number featuring and produced by James Poyser of The Roots). Also made with Poyser, “Free & Equal” finds Zambian singer/songwriter Sampa The Great setting her poetic and potent lyricism to a wildly kinetic beat. And on “Africa, One Of A Kind,” Nigerian singer/songwriter Mr Eazi accompanies Kidjo for a spellbinding anthem that’s especially meaningful to her.