Over the last decade, Sarah Lenka has paid tribute to singers like Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith, who led tumultuous lives. In her new offering "Women's Legacy", she explores work and prison songs of women in the 19th and 20th century. Most of them were sung by African-American women and were gathered by ethnomusicologists travelling the Deep South.
Although she is herself French and white, she feels that all women can be linked to these songs because at some point hardship may leave us speechless and that's when the music can take over.
This week also sees new releases by grime royalty Skepta and post-punk Afrobeat duo Sacred Paws.
