Celebrated Rwandan folk duo The Good Ones return with a deeply intimate and emotionally rich album. Rwanda Sings with Strings pairs their signature acoustic sound with delicate, improvised arrangements for cello and violin. Produced by Grammy-winner Ian Brennan (Tinariwen, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott), the album was recorded entirely live-no overdubs-in a Washington, D.C. hotel room, just one day before their NPR Tiny Desk performance. The string players-Gordon Withers (cello) and Matvei Sigalov (violin)-had never met before the session and played without sheet music or rehearsals. Yet, in a single take, they created a soundscape that feels both spontaneous and transcendent. Lead singer and guitarist Adrien Kazigira wrote over 23 new songs for the project, 19 of which were recorded. As always, he sings in Kinyarwanda, Rwanda’s national language. The songs explore themes of love, loss, rural life, and cultural change, with a poetic depth reminiscent of Nick Drake, Boubacar Traoré, or Astral Weeks. Kazigira is joined by Janvier Havugimana, who provides harmonies and percussion using everyday objects like cups, plastic wrap, and old boots. A raw, heartfelt, and hopeful album-quietly powerful and profoundly human.

1. Agnes Dreams of Being an Artist
2. One Red Sunday, You Lied & Tried to Steal My Land
3. Kirisitiyana Runs Around
4. In the Hills of Nyarusange, They Talk Too Much
5. I Love You So Much, But You Refused to Marry Me (Your Beauty I Cannot Unsee)
6. Mediatrice, You Left This World Too Soon
7. You Were Given a Dowry, But Abandoned Me
8. The Valley of the Turkeys (The Things I’ve Seen)
9. Everyne, the Earnest One
10. The Older Girls Lead the Little Ones Astray