Balfron Promise

Comprising four musicians with Palestinian roots who formed a group in Jordan in 2013 but who are now resident in London, 47SOUL have produced an album whose power will come as no surprise to anyone who saw them live at Glastonbury or WOMAD in recent years. Rapping in both Arabic and English, they claim their hip-hop/roots fusion of Arabic tradition and Western electronica constitutes a new genre they call shamstep. It's a more cosmopolitan mix than, say, Cairo's electro chaabi craze or Omar Souleyman's synthesized Syrian wedding music, their Arabisms flecked with intoxicating cinematic soundscapes and brooding dub/reggae atmospherics. Singer Walaa Sbeit has a dramatic and poetic voice, complemented by Tareq Abu Kwaik, better known as El Far3i, whose raps carry a militant conviction few in Western hip-hop can match. Ramzy Suleiman, aka Z the People, who was raised in the US as part of the Palestinian diaspora, provides the electronic keyboard swirls while the guitar textures of Hamza Arnaout (aka El Jehaz) ground the sound in a contemporary alt-rock context. It's big, bold, radical and hugely danceable, packing a potent punch both musically and politically. How far 47SOUL can take their shamstep will be fascinating to see.