{"id":32564,"date":"2026-03-11T14:25:58","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T14:25:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/castthedice.org\/?p=32564"},"modified":"2026-03-11T14:25:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T14:25:58","slug":"ogoya-nengo-odd-okoddo-team-up-for-collaborative-album-palagoma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/castthedice.org\/?p=32564","title":{"rendered":"Ogoya Nengo & Odd Okoddo team up for collaborative album Palagoma<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Kenyan folk icon Ogoya Nengo<\/a> has joined forces with experimental duo Odd Okoddo<\/a> for a new collaborative album titled Palagoma<\/em>. The record arrives on June 5th through From Cool Waters, bringing together artists from different generations and musical backgrounds in one striking project. Now 83, Nengo is one of the most distinctive voices in Kenyan folk music, and Odd Okoddo is the project of drummer and producer Sven Kacirek and singer, songwriter and instrument builder Olith Ratego. Palagoma<\/em> is the first time all three artists come together for a full project but they are no strangers to one another. Nengo first met Kacirek in 2009 whilst recording The Kenya Sessions<\/em>, and credits him as influential getting her career started. \u201cThat is why I like Sven, because Sven lift me up. I took him like my son, and Sven took me like his mother,\u201d she says. Kacirek had also previously worked with Nengo on her 2014 debut Rang’ala<\/em>, and he and Ratego launched Odd Okoddo in 2018 and have performed internationally since then, including at Uganda\u2019s Nyege Nyege Festival.<\/p>\n

Palagoma<\/em> blends folk traditions, rhythm experiments, and minimal electronic production. On the album, Kacirek builds atmospheric foundations with percussion, modular synths and marimba textures, and the vocals draw from the Luo community\u2019s dodo singing tradition. Singing in Dholuo, Ratego describes his style as \u201cdodo blues,\u201d a personal interpretation of the tradition he learned from his mother. Alongside him, Nengo\u2019s powerful vocals bring decades of experience and emotional weight. Across the record, the trio explore themes of love, struggle, identity and resilience.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the album’s release, Ogoya Nengo & Odd Okoddo have shared the first single from the album, ‘Bara’, an energetic and rhythmic track, driven by call-and-response vocals inspired by dodo music. The single is offered with a live video, offering a first glimpse at the trio performing the new material together. Watch it below.<\/p>\n