French rocker Matthieu Chedid, a.k.a. M, has opened the door to a wealth of cross-cultural fusions of sound over his career. His influences straddle genres and styles, taking in art rock, pop, retro funk, soul and world music. His love of Malian sounds in particular is seen in Amadou & Mariam's irresistibly bouncy rhythms, Kandia Kouyaté's majestic kora and Songhoy Blues' insistent funk grooves.