Information
Omar Souleyman's fifth studio album pays tribute to Erbil, the Iraqi city that offered refuge and hospitality to the artist during a recent period of instability. The move to Erbil was filled with new experiences and friendships, celebrated best in joyful songs dedicated to a new chapter of his life. The eight songs on Erbil see the Syrian singer, who has become an icon of global electronic music, return to collaborate with his historic keyboardist Hasan Jamo Alo for an increasingly ambitious sound and projected forward, in which techno meets dabke. Beyond the move to Erbil, Iraq, in recent years Omar Souleyman has received the GQ Middle East "Men of the Year" award in 2022 (with the accompanying cover), has performed at major concerts in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and the rest of the Middle East, and has returned to the United States after a six-year break with performances in Los Angeles and New York, while continuing an intense live activity in Europe and around the world. Souleyman, who has collaborated with Björk and Four Tet, began his career as a prolific wedding singer, publishing almost 500 live albums before the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011. He subsequently moved to Turkey and in 2013 released his debut studio album, Wenu Wenu, produced by Four Tet and released on Ribbon/Domino, which NPR called "...a passage so visceral, exhilarating and intense that the mystery of terrestrial borders becomes something hardly worth dwelling on". His second album Bahdeni Nami (2015), made with various producers including Four Tet, Gilles Peterson and Modeselektor, received widespread critical acclaim, as did the two releases on Mad Decent: To Syria, With Love (2017) and Shlon (2019), which established Omar Souleyman in the canon of global electronic music.