In 2012, Islamic extremists seized the north of Mali and outlawed making or even listening to music, threatening to cut off the hands of any musician who continued to play. Among those who fled south with their instruments was Garba Touré, a young guitarist raised not just on the traditional sounds of his people – the Songhoy – but hip-hop, R&B and his dad's Jimi Hendrix records. He was determined to defy the jihadists and form a band.

Hooking up with three like-minded players in their early twenties, Touré put together Songhoy Blues, and lit up Mali's capital, Bamako, with a spiky mix of indigenous sounds and a sharp, outward-looking attitude. When Damon Albarn's Africa Express project came to town, with Nick Zinner of New York's Yeah Yeah Yeahs in tow, they were introduced to the band. Within days, Songhoy Blues were in the studio collaborating with Zinner.

Director Connor Gilhooly captured the band marching out to a triumphant reception at this summer’s Glastonbury festival, performing the latest single “Nick” upon the Pyramid Stage. Their album, Music in Exile, produced by Zinner for UK indie label Transgressive, is one of the most exciting debuts of the year. Hands intact, fists raised, bringing the defiant music of Mali to venues across Europe, the Songhoy Blues quartet are a living, laughing testament to the unbreakable bond between music and freedom.

Songhoy Blues feature in the upcoming documentary They Will Have To Kill Us First: Malian Music in Exile.

Tom Horan is Culture Editor-at-Large at NOWNESS.