Ħadãeq

Formed in Belgium in 2010 Mólo Sâyat began life as a jam band, playing versions of the Mediterranean songs that were the passion of Lebanese vocalist Pôl Seif. Over time the group (the rest of whom are northern European), mastered the traditional Greek, Italian, Gypsy, Lebanese and Egyptian styles alongside a wide range of instruments and turned themselves into a formidable live concern on tours across the continent.

Recorded in Lebanon, this album presents the fruits of that long gestation period, a borderless fusion of sounds rich in vitality. The band are adept at melding seemingly incongruous styles, with the slowly building oud rhythms and Lebanese chants of opener ‘Asquini’ augmented by a jazz trumpet and saxophone section that blows wild and free at the climax. The beautiful flute-led ballad ‘Surfaton’ has an almost waltz-like quality to it – the slower tempo a chance for Pôl Seif to showcase his vocal prowess. The rapid brass and guitar rhythms and boisterous chatter of ‘Taksi’ – a track seemingly made for lively tavernas –might best be appreciated in a live setting but its does bring things to a pleasingly bracing finish.