Rokia Traoré, whose new album, Beautiful Africa will be released in April 2013 by Nonesuch Records, with a US release to follow (exact date TBD), has unveiled the video for the album track "Mélancolie." The video, directed by Romain Carciofo, premiered yesterday on Slate Afrique and can now be seen below via Traoré's YouTube channel and at nonesuch.com/media.

Beautiful Africa was produced by English musician John Parish (PJ Harvey, Eels, Sparklehorse) and recorded at Toybox Studios in Bristol, UK. Its lyrics are sung in the Malian–born Traoré’s native languages of French and Bambara, as well as some English. The album is available for pre-order now in the Nonesuch Store and includes an instant download of the title track. Traoré has already announced several European spring tour dates and summer festival engagements, including Roskilde and Glastonbury; additional tour dates will be announced shortly. For the latest, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.

Pitchfork described Traoré’s most recent record, 2009’s Tchamantché, as “a guitar album of a particularly understated bent ... hauntingly spare yet ridiculously well-defined, the timbre and tone of every string presented in perfect resolution.” And the BBC World Service called it “One of the best albums of the year. An absolute stunner.” Tchamantché also won a Victoires de la Musique (the equivalent of a Grammy Award in France) and a Songlines Artist of the Year Award for Traoré.

The daughter of a Malian diplomat who was posted to the US, Europe, and the Middle East, Traoré studied sociology in Brussels before embarking on her musical career. Although based in Bamako, Traoré has, for her son’s safety, temporarily relocated to Paris due to the current conflict in Mali. Her music draws upon her homeland’s traditions as well as the European and American rock and pop she has listened to throughout her life.

Watch the "Mélancolie" video here: