Mawja

Description

The fifth album by Sahrawi singer-songwriter and activist Aziza Brahim, Mawja ("wave" in Hassaniya Arabic) and the fourth for Glitterbeat, is shaped from a simple yet powerful base palette. Saharan and Iberian percussion blend with majestic guitars and warm, enveloping bass. Co-produced by Aziza and her long-time collaborator Guillem Aguilar, sonically, Mawja resembles her acclaimed debut album, the graceful Soutak (2014). That said, there is a confident eclecticism here, an expansive vision that even includes a drum pattern inspired by The Clash. It is colored by her own travels, her personal diaspora, and the music she heard coming from the transistor when she was a child. Aziza's voice, as always, is a source of deep and resonant emotions. Mawja is an album that shifts from one state of mind to another, from the noisy clatter of "Metal, Madera" to its reimagining of "Marhabna 2.1," a song that appeared on her debut album, through "Duaa" and "Ljaima Likbira," Aziza's tender and affectionate elegies for her grandmother.