Rokia Traoré, whose new album, Beautiful Africa, landed on a number of Best of the Year lists, recently spoke with PBS NewsHour's Jeffrey Brown about the album. "Rokia Traoré and her music are a mix of African and Western influences and languages," says Brown. "Traoré's new album addresses the problems of Mali and the continent, but also, as its title, Beautiful Africa, suggests, much more." Watch the complete PBS NewsHour piece here.

CBC Music has published its list of the Top Albums of the Year, and featured among them are four albums released on Nonesuch Records in 2013: Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell's Old Yellow Moon (Best Singer-Songwriter Album), Jeremy Denk's recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations (Best Classical Album), and Rokia Traoré's Beautiful Africa and Bombino's Nomad (Top 5 World Music Albums).

The music editors at iTunes in the US have made their selections of the Best of 2013, and featured among them are four critically acclaimed albums from Nonesuch Records: the Inside Llewyn Davis soundtrack among the Best Albums, Soundtrack; Rokia Traoré's latest album, Beautiful Africa, and Bombino's label debut, Nomad, among the year's Best Albums, World; and Jeremy Denk's recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations among the Best Albums, Classical.

NPR Music has published the list of its 100 Favorite Songs of 2013, and featured among them are songs from three Nonesuch Records releases: Rokia Traoré's "Mélancolie," from her new album, Beautiful Africa; Sam Amidon's "My Old Friend," from Bright Sunny South; and Timo Andres's Paraphrase on Themes of Brian Eno, from Home Stretch. "What do you have to do, as a song, to win our hearts," asks NPR. "You have to sink in. You have to stop someone dead in her tracks. You need to cause that man to act a fool." These are songs that "are stamped with memories or reliably turn the temperature up or put a smile on our face every single time."

With less than a month to go before 2013 comes to a close, music magazines have begun to weigh in on the best in music this year. Rolling Stone, Mojo, Q, and Uncut have all published their lists of the Best Albums of the Year, and included among them are a number of Nonesuch releases: the latest from Emmylou Harris and Rokia Traoré and the label debut albums from Sam Amidon, Devendra Banhart, Bombino, and Iron & Wine.

Rokia Traoré kicks off a two-week North American tour at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Rose Theater in New York City tonight, as part of the White Light Festival. The nine-city tour includes stops in Vancouver, Seattle, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Toronto, and Montreal. The New York Times' Ben Ratliff calls her new album, Beautiful Africa, "excellent," noting that it "balances rough and smooth, soft and loud, ngoni and chiming electric guitar, lilt and funk," and describes Traoré as "a self-possessed, intense performer." 

Rokia Traoré kicks off a six-date tour of the UK with a performance at the Brighton Corn Exchange tonight, followed by stops in Leeds, Edinburgh, Derry, and Manchester, before culminating in a show at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Traoré and her band then head to New York City to launch a two-week North American tour at Jazz at Lincoln Center for the White Light Festival. Songlines has just named Traoré's new album, Beautiful Africa, among the Best Albums of 2013.

Rokia Traoré spoke with NPR's All Things Considered about her new album, Beautiful Africa, and the inspiration behind its songs, not least her fellow Malian and African women. "These women are simply amazing because when I feel tired, I imagine them in their life of every day. They never show that they are tired. They are like iron women: all the time working, but working and smiling and taking care of everything with nothing to support them," she explains. "I wanted to ... say thank you for being my source of inspiration."

Today marks the release of Rokia Traoré’s new album, Beautiful Africa, in the US. The record, which was released internationally earlier this year to critical acclaim, was produced by English musician John Parish. "The Malian singer Rokia Traoré has a gentle voice with a steely core, one that’s revealed more clearly than ever on Beautiful Africa," says the New York Times. NPR concludes: "Beautiful Africa is just as smart and lovely as its creator." Following its UK release, the album earned five stars from the Observer, Guardian, and Songlines, which raves: "It really doesn’t get better than this in today’s African music ... Rokia’s work is exciting, surprising, and always perfectly executed."

Rokia Traoré's new album, Beautiful Africa, is due out September 24, in the US, following its critically acclaimed international release earlier this year. But no need to wait till then to hear it. The album is streaming in full all this week as an NPR First Listen. "Beautiful Africa is just as smart and lovely as its creator," says NPR Music's Anastasia Tsioulcas. Rokia Traoré kicks off her North American tour at Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival in November.

Rokia Traoré, whose new album, Beautiful Africa, will be released in the US on September 24, is featured on the latest episode of NPR's All Songs Considered. The show closes with "Kouma," the second track off her new album. "'Kouma' is the work of the amazingly talented Rokia Traoré," says the show. "Talk about a beautiful voice." Traoré kicks off a North American tour at Lincoln Center's White Light Festival in November.

Nonesuch Records will release singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Rokia Traoré’s Beautiful Africa in the US on September 24, 2013. The record, which was released internationally earlier this year to critical acclaim, was produced by English musician John Parish (PJ Harvey, Eels, Sparklehorse). Uncut called it “the record fans of her explosive live shows always hoped she would make and a career highpoint.” Traoré performs music from the album in NYC in November as part of Lincoln Center’s White Light’s Festival; additional US tour dates will be announced. Beautiful Africa is available for pre-order now in the Nonesuch Store and includes an instant download of the title track.