AZIZA BRAHIM - Mawja

The new album by the Saharawi artist was highly anticipated, especially after the warm reception of her compelling 2019 release "Sahari", but the five years in between were far from easy for Aziza Brahim, who was forced to cancel her tour due to ongoing anxiety stemming from her inability to be with her loved ones. Not only were her mother, siblings and one of her daughters still living in one of the harshest, most arid areas of the Algerian desert, but the isolation caused by Covid-19 and the death of the musician's grandmother only deepened her sense of anguish and solitude.

An album about the rebirth of hope, and yet another compelling chapter in the desert-blues tradition for which Tinariwen remain a key point of reference, "Mawja" is also an act of political dissent and social resistance.

Aziza Brahim blends Western rock and Saharan tradition with her usual elegance, even venturing into a bolder rock-blues territory with the heartfelt tribute to Clash on "Metal, Madera", or melding sounds and rhythms of varied origins into a universal anthem of liberation like "Hairy Ya Zuwar".

At times her voice, overcome by emotion, jolts the listener out of a flow of caressing moods and melodies (the title track), though for Brahim each of the ten tracks is an occasion for reflection, whether evoking legendary figures (the mythical bird in "Bubisher") or the memory of loved ones (the ethno-pop of "Duaa" and the tribal chant of "Ljaima Likbira" are both dedicated to her grandmother) — the emotional intensity of the songs never wavers.

Extracting from melancholy and suffering something to hold onto in order to soothe the pain is an art that Aziza Brahim knows through and through: the dense, languid caress of "Thajiba", the more ethnic character of "Marhabna 2.1" with its tabal (a drum played only by women), flute and acoustic guitar, and the irresistible soul-and-blues beauty of "Fuadi" are all sincere declarations of freedom and emancipation.

With the help of a now well-established band – Badra Abdallahe, Guillem Aguilar, Ignasi Cussó, Aleix Tobias and Andreu Moreno – and a sizeable cast of guests, Aziza Brahim entrusts her thoughts to the waves of music, with a language that, while showing no sign of novelty for genre fans, still shakes the body and touches the soul.