"Brahim's keening take on Afro-blues, is beautiful, bewitching, aquiver with timeless sorrow." --- Mojo. "This is a sound and message that reaches the heart, beyond imposed borders, curfews and barbed wire, with a dream for the end to the struggle." ---The Quietus.
Sahrawi singer-songwriter activist Aziza Brahim's fifth album Mawja (Wave in Hassaniya
Arabic) is fashioned from a simple but powerful foundational palette: Saharan and Iberian
percussion entwining with stately guitars and warm, enveloping bass.
Co-produced by Brahim with long-time collaborator Guillem Aguilar, the record from her
oeuvre that Mawja most sonically resembles is her revered and graceful debut Soutak (2014).
That noted, there is a confident eclecticism found here, an expansive take on
her vision that even includes a drum pattern inspired by the Clash.
Brahim's voice, as always, is a wellspring of deep and resonant emotions. The yearning for
homeland. The struggle for freedom. The love for one's elders. The unfurling of time.
Waves of history, waves of sound. Mawja.