Ashofak Baden

Singer Nadin Al Khalidi saw a selfie of a Yazidi couple in northern Iraq that they had posted on social media in their last few moments together, after the news had just come over that war was approaching their town. Al Khalidi wrote a song for them, ‘Ashofak Baden’ (We Will Meet Later), the title-track of this second album from Tarrabband.

Nadin sings beautifully and passionately throughout, and her saz (lute) playing is joined by the percussion, bass, guitar and fiddle of her Malmö-based band. Her potent lyrics in Arabic and Kurdish are translated into English in the CD booklet. They are spare, concise verses about the life, the loves and the issues facing those fleeing the horrors of war in the Middle East – she herself is a refugee from Iraq. ‘We were told not to worry/The sea wouldn’t take anyone/Waves would not be so cruel/They would wave at us only from a distance… Take us to Land/Anchor us.’ The tunes are written by Swedish band members in the Hijaz-Nahawand maqam mode – Arabic stylings without quarter tones. The arrangements are skilled, the playing is spot-on. On the one hand, the album has a coffee-table sheen. On the other, the spirit, artistry, endurance and emotions behind this work are laudable, as is the fact that the music is being made by a totally diverse bunch of musicians who are striving to put our world back together.