Manbarani

Natik Awayez won't be known to many readers. Born in Iraq, he has lived in Bulgaria (studying philosophy), Yemen, Sweden and Egypt. All this time he has been involved in music, but this is his first album. The maturity that his history implies comes through immediately in the songs. They are well structured, original and very melodic. The arrangements by Maurice Louca from Cairo band Lekhfa give a contemporary sound, but without abandoning traditional instruments. The first track ‘Al Manafi (The Land of the Exiles)’ is the perfect example of this: the basic song of voice and oud glide over the complex Yemeni-inspired percussion as the violin of Ayman Asfour swoops and sighs in and out. The arrangements are sometimes complex but never intrude on the songs, as when the strings, like a choppy sea, go sometimes with, sometimes against the flow in ‘Adan’. While Awayez does not have a sophisticated voice, it is sincere and expressive, as shown on ‘Al Ganoub (The South)’. He describes his music as drawing its energy from Iraq, its pulse from Yemen, and its soul from Egypt. It is surely destined for hearts around the world.