Oghneya

Berlin-based Arabic-retro label Habibi Funk have given the kiss of life to another lost legend in the form of 1978’s glorious Lebanese-Brazilian folk-jazz fusion Oghneya. Originally released on cassette, the vinyl version followed a year later, with both formats rare and highly sought after (good examples, where they do exist, fetch up to $5,000 a copy). Led by Issam Hajali, who now runs a small electronics shop in Beirut, Ferkat Al Ard melded classical Arabic melodic structures with joyously laid-back Brazilian styles such as bossa nova that had been brought back by returning emigrants and integrated into Beirut’s already-cosmopolitan music scene.

Even now, Brazil is home to the largest Lebanese diaspora in the world – Brasilibanês, as they are known. The dreamy vocals and sun-drenched sounds of the santur on these seven beautiful tracks belie the hard-hitting nature of the songs themselves. Based on the works of Palestinian resistance poets such as Mahmoud Darwish, Samih al-Qasim and Tawfiq Ziad, the lyrics draw on bitter emotions of national loss and personal longing for what war, and toxic politics, have stolen away. The most heartfelt and revelatory are on ‘Entazerni’ (Wait for Me): ‘Homeland of captive orchards, of palms upturned in entreaty / Homeland of villages, ruins, blood, tears / Do I strengthen your resolve? / Or do you, who have been betrayed, strengthen mine?’