Gnawa London

Best known in the UKasa musical collaborator, in particular with Gnawa-indie band Electric Jalaba, Simo Lagnawi springs a few surprises here with a debut album of exquisitely pure Gnawa, the Moroccan devotional music of which he is a maâlem (master). Identifying any influences from London – Lagnawi's adopted home town – in this album is not easy. Gnawa London is built around arrangements of traditional tunes and his performances carry the atmosphere of a night-long Gnawa ceremony. Yet the album is obviously a very personal statement. Lagnawi plays all the parts himself: vocals, gimbri (long-necked lute), qaraqebs (Moroccan castanets) and clapping. The two self-penned tracks are concerned with both the Arab Spring and Lagnawi's experiences as a Moroccan immigrant in the UK while, musically, he creates a highly individual tapestry of sound through his treatment of instrumentation and themes.

Though many of the pieces here sprawl towards ten minutes, Lagnawi's music is always tightly focused. Moods vary from languid to highly charged, ducking and diving between combinations of the various voices: the bluesy gimbri, call-and-response vocals and off-kilter hubbub created by qaraqebs and clapping rhythms. Lagnawi's soulful gimbri playing underpins all these fluctuations, at times repeating a simple riff and at others injecting fierce momentum, as he does at the end of his composition ‘Missing Home’. Other highlights include the frenetic clatter of ‘Tourklila’ and sultry opening solo of ‘Shalaba’. Gnawa London reveals Simo Lagnawi to be an artist to watch closely.