Albat Alawi Op 99

Eyal El Wahab, the young music maker behind El Khat, is a true original. Many of his homemade instruments are too. The press release describes him making music ‘from the items people discard’ like some crazed, Yemeni Womble. But there is great depth and articulation in his sound. His first album Saadia Jefferson, a wonderful cacophony of imagination, was a Top of the World in January/February 2021 (#154). As with that album, this is mostly brilliant, if unsettling. The violin and percussion of opening track ‘Ma’afan’ are exhilarating, while the constant affirmation/negation of his lyrics – ‘you are my home and my prison’ – may have profound existential meaning, or may be a stream of jumbled thoughts. Being from the Yemeni diaspora in Tel Aviv may contribute to the dislocated feel – ‘like a saint of no religion.’

If there’s a fault, it’s a tendency to repeat the same pattern of clattering percussion, bass and jagged horn riffs. When ‘Said Min A’sawad’ opens with a piano sound it’s a refreshing change in texture and pace. With all this, El Khat is fascinating and disconcerting, unlike anything else you are likely to hear.