El Hadj N"Diaye embarks on a nervy strategy for his internationally released second album. Senegal"s searing signature mbalax rhythm takes a backseat to meditative tempos and a guitar-rock ambience seldom associated with African releases. Even more riskily, the focus is fixed on N"Diaye"s voice and thus the Wolof-language poetry whose meaning is closed to the majority of listeners. But Xel is a solid triumph. Even without the liner-note translations, N"Diaye has the ability to transfix. While his passion and range put him in the same class as countrymen superstars Youssou N"Dour and Baaba Maal, his emotional outreach is unequaled. Love song "Kaki" wears its yearning large, complementing N"Diaye"s sometimes pleading, sometimes cooing vocals with lovely amplified guitar figures. "Xale bi" kicks off with an understated fuzz-box sound right out of the Cream songbook before gliding into a touching lyric about Dakar"s forgotten street children that surprises with an English-language chorus. The ruinous struggle for independence of Senegal"s Cassamance region elicits anguished vocals, ominous traditional drumbeats, and the delicate optimism of a balafon solo on "Casa di mansa." The gut-wrenching singing launches Xel well beyond a diversion of a disc. N"Diaye demands attention, and his socially conscious, beautifully crafted songs deserve close listening. --Bob Tarte