The Allure of Mali, The Shifting of Metal, And Franz Remixed.

Oumou Sangare The voice of Oumou Sangare is a beacon -- incandescent, steadfast and reassuring -- throughout ''Seya'' (World Circuit/Nonesuch), her intensely spirited fifth album. Singing in the Wassoulou style of southern Mali, awake with fluttering digressions, she strikes a tone of moral authority and audacious uplift. Her accompaniment, a small army of musicians marshaled by the arranger-producer Cheikh Tidiane Seck, adds bright bustle without obscuring the purpose of the songs, which revisit poignant themes. ''Sounsoumba'' and ''Wele Wele Wintou'' advocate women's rights and the end of preadolescent forced marriages. Elsewhere Ms. Sangare tackles immigration, encourages societal respect and, with joy and reverence, invokes the names of her musical forebears. Her most personal declarations might also be the most effortlessly scrupulous: when she sings about her own extravagant success, on the title track and a song called ''Kounadya,'' she's presenting herself as an approachable ideal, something made possible in this world. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]