Syrian Dreams

‘This album is my personal journey through the six years of war in Syria,' Youssef writes of her debut album. ‘I see the act of playing music as the opposite of death; it is a life and hope-affirming act.' Music as a healing instrument, as a way of handling hard experiences and the harder emotions that come with them: you need real expertise to achieve these results. And Youssef, who started playing aged seven, is a virtuoso of the qanun, the traditional Syrian 78-stringed plucked zither whose pitch tunes the rest of an ensemble. She has worked with players from a wide range of backgrounds and traditions and here she teams up with musicians including cellist Barney Morse-Brown, oud player Attab Haddad and percussionist Sebastian Flaig. There is strength hidden in the delicacy of the music, a web of sympathetic parts working as one. She is a master of her instrument, one who will let it take possession of her. On extended songs such as the 11-minute ‘Seven Gates of Damascus’ and ‘Queen of the Night’, the music is sure to take possession of you, too.