The cover of The Very Best's 2008 mixtape Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit are the Very Best's was a low-res send up of an image from Disney's The Lion King, in which an adult lion formed by a constellation looks down paternally on two cubs. But musically The Very Best aren't interested in being cute or ironic and they never pander to audience expectations of what an African singing over the backdrop of Western pop might sound like. On their official debut, Warm Heart of Africa, the duo work from a rich, colorful palate. Mwamwaya sings what sound to me like fairly conventional African melodies. His voice is often multi-tracked to harmonize with himself and the processing gives his voice a current, synthetic feeling that matches the music. Radioclit's beats feel equally inspired by Afropop and hip-hop, riddim and 80's pop and are often set off by shiny, sunny synths. These elements come together to make Warm Heart of Africa a fresh debut that sounds equally comfortable and orginal.Assuming you don't understand native Malawian Mwmwaya's Chichewan lyrics, you'll have to imagine the song's emotion and meaning for yourself. On awesome album opener 'Yalira' Mwmwaya belts out an earnest, open-throated melody over a resounding orchestral-sounding beat paired with Young Joc "Shoulder Lean" finger snaps for contrast, that is evocative of nothing more than wide open spaces. As Mwmwaya's voice rises and we anticipate something even bigger and more anthemic, it's replaced by a high-pitched and processed Chichewan chattering, an aural equivalent of commuters rushing onto an off a rush-hour train. At least, that's what I heard. Warm Heart of Africa is full of songs like this that surprise you because they sound so new and natural at the same time. 'Mfumu' matches optimistic, driving verses from Mwmwaya with a track that sounds something like U2 circa 'With or Without You' and it works beautifully. On 'Julia,' another cheerful refrain is paired with the sort of squelchy, G-funk synths that starred on Ciara's "Goodies" with good results.Even in Chichewan, the album only feels like a chore when a song's melody don't engage. On the weaker tracks of Warm Heart of Africa ('Kada Manja' and 'Nsokoto'), The Very Best fall into simple, highly repetitive melodies that grated on my nerves before the song is halfway finished. The album does have two (partly) English language tracks, one collaboration each with Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend and M.I.A., quite possibly the two most obvious collaborators in the indie music universe. Koenig's song, 'Warm Heart of Africa,' is the album highlight. He sounds perfectly natural trading verses with Mwmwaya because Koenig matches The Very Best's bright, warm energy with a bright, warm melody (even if lyrically he's on some "your favorite PLO" nonsense) that plays perfectly over Radioclit's punchy beat and African guitar. M.I.A., on the other hand, fails in squeezing her angular chanting between the full, cheerful verses from Mwmwaya; her turns flatten the song's dynamic to her uninteresting vocal interplay with the beat, which had sounded buoyant and propulsive under Mwmwaya's voice.The album closes on 'Ntende Uli,' an anthemic, swaggering song with a somber edge that could be a TV on the Radio track. The song's serious air is unique on here, but it still feels of a piece with the rest of the album. The song is the mark of a group that has been born fully-formed on Warm Heart of Africa.