For a project that was created virtually as a result of the pandemic, WEMA’s self-titled debut album pulls off the impressive feat of feeling like it was created during a trip around the globe. The group is a second musical life for contemporary Tanzanian Gogo musician Msafiri Zawose; Lilli Elina, Magnus P.I., and Jimmy Le Messurier of the London-based, Cuban-inspired trio Penya; and New York-based producer Photay. The album, sung mainly in Spanish and Swahili, is an uptempo offering of the quintet’s hopeful worldview, weaving a sonic tapestry that acts as a salve to much of 2020’s political anxieties. Composed of a series of two-fold songs, Wema plays to the strengths of its intersections: a decade of Zawose’s penchant for Latin piano chords juxtaposed against Tanzanian folk alongside Penya’s Spanish and Yoruba foundation. Songs like “Luanje Pt. 1” channel an energetic call-and-response prompt, like Fela Kuti, creating a sound that is both ritualistic and powerful.