souad massi - raoui (Wrasse)

souad massi - raoui

Even the elegant oud playing of Hamid Djouri reinforces the connection to that tradition. But the link ends there. On Raoui recorded in Paris in 2000 Souad opts for an internationalised approach that embraces a range of contemporary pop styles. Nothing wrong with that and when I initially listerned to the album the first several numbers which fused western folk, afro-beat, Jewish or Spanish genres I found it quite entrancing.

A bit on the light side conceptually perhaps but Madame(moiselle?) Massi is certainly a very talented singer who infuses all of her material with an honest nobility. However with the undoubted pressure to appeal to as many punters as possible I do believe that she has spread herself very thin indeed, especially in the second half of the CD where mainstream rock, pop and country are treated in a far too conventional manner. Track 7 Denya introduces a very lame ragamuffin style rap that seems at odds with the song and the remainder of the CD doesn't seem to recover much thereafter. A pity because the first half showed definite promise. Souad deserves better than this.