Omar Souleyman To Syria, With Love

Omar Souleyman dispatches his strongest, most passionate recordings since Leh Jani [2011] with his To Syria, With Love dedication issued on Mad Decent. In stepping away from the plusher production of Four Tet, as heard on Wenu Wenu [2013], and the likes of Gilles Peterson and Modeselektor on Bahdeni Nami [2015], he rediscovers the fire that attracted most of his worldwide fans in the first place, or us at the very least.
From Ya Boul Habari’s driving wedding techno beats to the trilling bounce of Chobi and the plangent sorrow of Mawal, this is all clearly Souleyman’s most direct and emotive material in years, turning on some irresistible danefloor energy in Ya Bnayya and the searing Kurdish trance vamps of Khayen, along with the pure drama of Es Samra and the fractious ructions of Aenta Lhabbeytak in genuienly gripping style.
Say what you want about Mad Decent, but they know exactly what’s good right here.
Recommended!