Divan & Divine

Zeyn’el is a singer-songwriter who is well-known in the Turkish rock scene as a sound engineer, and some of that background comes through here, as on ‘Dünyanın Üzerinde’ and ‘Nesini Söyleyim’, in this slickly-produced album. On the surface it is a relatively straightforward modern interpretation of traditionally inspired Anatolian songs, albeit done very well and complemented by the attractive light and high tessitura of his voice, shown off to great effect on the opening ‘Ela Gözlü Pirim Geldi’. However, it is not hard to see many contemporary concerns coming through the choice of lyrics and subject matter, and this is made explicit in a spoken epilogue which explains this message and addresses the injustices faced by people in historical and modern Turkey. These are set in the context of the history of the Alevi/Turkmen population and their influence on the poetic sung aşık/ozan folk tradition in which Zeyn’el was brought up. The songs themselves are eminently listenable, with some excellent playing on guitar and other fretted lutes (for example on ‘Pazarlık Mı Olur’), and great vocal technique on ‘Ne Feryad Edersin’. Though it's through the texts and the environment from which the songs emerge that this one comes alive.