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Infusing the magic of Afro-beats with the spirit of Khaleeji music, Bahrain’s popular fusionists Majaz are set to drop the third single from their upcoming extended-play (EP) album tomorrow, writes Naman Arora.
The musical quartet comprising three Bahrainis - guitarist Hameed AlSaeed, bassist Salah Sharakhat and Jehad Al Halal on cello - as well as Saudi percussionist Abdulla Faisal, will be dropping Ya Lala this weekend.
When speaking to GulfWeekly, Salah described the music as, “another feel-good track that encapsulates the wondrous spirit of Khaleej, and navigates through its richly-textured beats and rhythms – with a tinge of North African influence – in a celebration of culture and diversity”.
The four-minute-53-second Afro-Khaleeji song is set to have a music video to be released at a later date. It will complement their upcoming as-yet-untitled third EP, which celebrates the ‘interconnectedness of African and Khaleeji music’.
“The non-lyrical chants in Ya Lala are vocables that are commonly used in Khaleeji culture and music, most often as a display of joy and care-free sentiments – an apt reflection of the nonchalant geniality of the Gulf and its people,” Salah added.
Majaz, which means ‘metaphor’ in Arabic, celebrated a decade of making hypnotic beats last year and has been busy touring this year, performing at the Netherlands’ Musica Mundo festival in June.
Their recent releases include the Moroccan Gnawa-inspired Heila Hei (a generational Bahraini phrase with no particular linguistic meaning), released in September last year, as well as Ala Wain (Arabic for ‘to where’), released in April. Both these are expected to be included in the five-track EP to be announced in the coming months.
The band has previously performed in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Netherlands, Tunisia, Egypt, and Bangladesh.
For details, follow @majaz_music on Instagram.
