This tenderly delivered debut LP by Sudanese-Canadian performance poet, film-maker, and singer-songwriter is a hushed-voiced, acoustic form of folk, the title translated as “the world in all its flaws” in Arabic, and variously touches on religious devotion, childhood trauma, gang violence to romantic intimacy. The 27-year-old has already had a diverse career, even as a songwriter for Justin Bieber and other mainstream pop artists, and his delivery is akin to James Blake, or Sampha, and in the background on this release there are subtle contributions from Aaron Dessner, Rosalía, Clairo, Nicolas Jaar, and more alongside Mustafa’s longtime creative partner Simon Hessmann. There’s a uniformity to the sound and lack of undulation in dynamics which keeps makes many of the songs very similar, but nevertheless it’s a sweet, gentle, melodic one, even if the subjects are sometimes darker. There’s a strange fusion of worlds here, the more hip-hop phrasing and N-word delivered so softly as folk music is a strange juxtaposition such as on the second track, What Happened, Mohamed? which describes an urban friendship schism: “What happend, my nigga? … And I was right where you are, but this hood tore us apart / I don’t blame you for losing your heart.” Imaan which added oud and other Arabic instruments as well as guitar, rather beautifully intertwines the themes of forbidden love and religious undertones. SNL is coloured by bullets, gang violence and death, but all through the albums uniformly sounds with occasional street voices. What Good Is A Heart?, I’ll Go Anywhere, and Old Life are gorgeously delicate love songs, the latter two with gentle clap percussion. Even Gaza Is Calling, which anyone might expect to be a thunderous protest song, is a tender number wondering about a Gaza friend who went back to live in that war-torn region and now they have very worryingly lost touch: “It's been years since you been back / You can't keep what's in your hands/ And Gaza is calling / Every time I say your name / There's a war that's in the way.” Wrapped in gentle strings, but later breaking into some muted tumultuous electronica and an Arabic chorus with Autotune. Overall soft focus, strangely gentle, but engagingly dreamy fusion of what in reality are hard reality worlds. Out on Jagjaguwar.
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