Aziza Brahim - Mawja [LP]

Cat. no: GBLP150
Format: LP
Barcode: 4030433615010
Release Date: 01 Mar 2024
Genre: World Music

Sahrawi singer-songwriter activist Aziza Brahim's ffth album Mawja (Wave in Hassaniya Arabic) is fashioned from a simple but powerful foundational palette: Saharan and Iberian percussion entwining with stately guitars and warm, enveloping bass - Co-produced by Brahim withlong-time collaborator Guillem Aguilar, the record from her oeuvre that Mawja most sonically resembles is her revered and graceful debut Soutak (2014)

That noted, there is a confdent eclecticism found here, an expansive take on her vision that even includes a drum pattern inspired by the Clash. Brahim's voice, as always, is a wellspring of deep and resonant emotions. The yearning for homeland. The struggle for freedom. The love for one's elders. The unfurling of time. Waves of history, waves of sound. Mawja.

"Brahim's keening take on Afro- blues, is beautiful, bewitching, aquiver with timeless sorrow" - Mojo.

"This is a sound and message that reaches the heart, beyond imposed borders,curfews and barbed wire, with a dream for the end to the struggle." - The Quietus.

ONLINE.
Folk Radio UK - Album review due
musicOMH - Album review due
Joyzine.org - Album review due
Rhythm Passport - "Thajliba" is their Daily Discovery (28 December 2023)
Hyphen - Interview / feature due.

PRINT
Uncut magazine - Album review (1-page 750 words lead review + 220 word Q &A) (February 2024) - "Deeply rooted and yet sonically adventurous … Brahim's default musical currency is a resonant African desert blues freighted with a mournful yet defant passion, but with a distinctly feminist perspective that is as different from Ali Farka Touré or Tinariwen as, say, Bessie Smith was from John Lee Hooker or Robert Johnson. It's a potent and compelling sound, inextricably linked to the resistance struggle but with an inherent dignity and elegance - not merely a cry of protest at oppression but a celebration of a proud culture, too … Playing the traditional Sahrawi hand drum known as the tabal and accompanied by Western rock instrumentation, her soulful voice has a delectably creamy tone capable of subtly different emotional shading … Mawja is an eloquent homage to the indomitable spirit and rich culture of Brahim's troubled but proud people." 8/10

Mojo magazine - Album review due
Songlines magazine - Album review due (featured review with a 200-word Q & A)
New Internationalist magazine - Interview/ Spotlight piece due
RNR magazine - Album review due
Morning Star - Album review due (will include a short interview)
BBC Music magazine – Review
RADIO The Blues Show with Cerys Matthews on BBC Radio 2
Music Planet on BBC Radio 3 – Airplay
Late Junction on BBC Radio 3 - 19 January 2023 (with Verity Sharp)
Cerys Matthews on BBC Radio 6 Music

LP Tracks: Bein trab u lihjar / Thajliba / Duaa / Marhabna 2.1 / Bubisher / Ljaima likbira / Mawja / Metal, madera / Haiyu ya zuwar / Fuadi