The desert is blossoming. But it’s not just Timtom Schalalom who is looking for spice in the Saharan sand. Aziza Brahim also knows her way around when it comes to sand. The Algerian singer makes desert music for desert people: It’s about those who don’t have it so good because others want to have it better. You don’t have to understand it to appreciate it. I’ve trudged through an endless wasteland until I stumbled upon this album, and it’s like finding an oasis. It’s bursting with life, it’s blossoming! Of course I’m happy about it. But I can’t explain it, so let’s break it down rationally in a language that is appropriate for this woman and her art. Let me put it this way: if you’re melancholic, but you’re either too old, too young or both for Taylor Swift, then Glitterbeat’s »Mawja« is the album for you. It’s the kind of album that makes you flip through a picture book about Tanzania and then decide to fly to Tunisia instead. It’s the kind of album that will make you sound like you know what you’re talking about at the next Never Say Never World Music Festival when Afrika Susi unfurls her turban after her third glass of white wine spritzer.
Mawja
