(CNN) Good news rarely makes it to Zomba Prison, a maximum-security facility in Malawi -- the world's poorest nation.

So when music producer Ian Brennan gave the inmates an opportunity to record some tracks, the excitement was palpable. Now, the resultant album, " I Have No Everything Here ," has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the "Best World Music Album" category, a first for a record out of Malawi.

"They would do these amazing tribal songs to lift their spirits for the hours they were allowed outside," recalls Brennan. "They're locked up for 12 hours a day, so when they're outside, they're outside. They don't take a foot indoors if they can avoid it," he adds.

Brennan was allowed rare access inside the prison along with his wife, Marilena Delli, a filmmaker and photographer who documented the recording process in one of the world's most overburdened jails.

"The prison was designed to hold 330 people, and has 2,000 or more at any given time," he says. Brennan recalls that space is so overstuffed, prisoners are forced to sleep on top of each other and head-to-toe, "like sardines."

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