On April 21, as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi whipped up anti-Muslim fervour among voters, Muslim extremists bombed the neighbouring island of Sri Lanka, leaving hundreds dead and many more disabled. Two days earlier, San Francisco-based Indian expat Rupa Marya released her highly political sixth album with her band, Rupa and The April Fishes. The doctor, who aims to "decolonise medicine" through her relentless international activism, said growing up in northern India, followed by the south of France, "really solidified my sense of living beyond nations and seeing a world where I could see the commonalities between people really clearly". Also influenced by the French is Tuareg guitarist Mdou Moctar, whose new album released days earlier notes how the colonisers treated his people "like slaves" as they took uranium and natural resources. On its title track, "Ilana" he sings in Tuareg: “Our heritage is taken by the people of France, occupying the valley of our ancestor.”