Live in Mostar

Divanhana are a young Sarajevo-based band who have an old-fashioned work ethic: they get on the road and tour! This is to be commended, but it's also exhausting, and it's possibly why the six-piece band's current singer is their third vocalist, despite the band being less than a decade old. Perhaps all the touring is why the band have decided to issue a live CD even though they only have one previous international release behind them (2015's impressive Zukva). This performance finds things sounding shrill and bombastic: ‘Aj Mene Majka’ in particular recalls Soviet kitsch. It's difficult to differentiate much of what's now called sevdah from Balkan cabaret music: a traditional melody presented by a big and melodramatic voice and an over-the-top delivery from all involved. Sevdah is best served up in stripped-down form, or reinvented in the way the Bosnian singer Božo Vrećo has set about doing.
Divanhana are young and energetic, so it might be an idea if they got off the road for a bit and changed their approach to sevdah. If they’re determined to be sevdah's equivalent to Shirley Bassey, then I’ll pass.