 |
|
Last year I was privileged to hear a beautiful new voice on the
world music scene, that of Algerian songstress Souad Massi on
her release “Raoui.” Souad grew up listening to western
style music such as rock, folk and Latin music, even expressing
a distaste for traditional Algerian forms in an interview that
was conducted with her. I found this strange, as some of the pieces
on Raoui seemed to be informed with the stately beauty of the
North African Andaluz style.
One thing is not in doubt though, this song-bird sounds Algerian.
The pieces on her latest CD “Deb” (heart broken) reveal
a wide array of influences from French chanson, international
folk, rock, pop, Latin, soukouss, Irish, Algerian and not the
least flamenco, a confessed passion . Perhaps this is the Andaluz
connection. Souad plays sympathetic accompaniment on guitar with
excellent oud, Algerian style violin, percussion and touches of
vocal melisma in many of the 12 pieces, most of which are sung
in Arabic giving a sense of place to the singer’s style,
while the various influences expand her appeal immensely.
Souad’s melodic but never sappy approach, her distinctive
dulcet voice, the fact that the instruments are acoustic and that
the production integrates all the material, means that everything
just flows beautifully. No rai here. In fact, on first hearing
the CD some may be struck by the similarity of “Ghir Enta”
to “Veinte Anos”, the Cuban standard of Buena Vista
Social Club fame. But no…it’s not an Algerian version
of them either. In the review of “Raoui” I intimated
that Mme Massi had a great album inside of her. “Deb”
should consolidate an appeal that goes well beyond that of the
average world music junkie.
