Bab L’ Bluz, a French-Moroccan world music power quartet, has recently unveiled “Iwaiwa Funk,” the third track from their upcoming album, Swaken. This composition, performed on the electric mandol and featuring vocals in the traditional high-pitched style of Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains, carries themes of embracing life’s brevity, rejecting resentment, and celebrating dance as a spiritual release.
“Iwaiwa Funk” serves as a critique of those who inflict suffering or remain blind to the consequences of their actions, emphasizing the importance of heeding distress signals and extending kindness and understanding. The track encourages reflection on our effect on others and advocates for compassion in our interactions.
Scheduled for release on May 10th, “Swaken” comprises eleven tracks characterized by vibrant, high-energy rhythms drawing from diverse musical traditions. Combining elements of psychedelic blues, funk, and rock with the trance-inducing beats of North Africa’s Maghreb region, including Gnawa, Amazigh, Hassani, and Huara influences, the album represents a fusion of ancient and contemporary sounds.
Front-woman Yousra Mansour remarks “There are still times when we are confronted with outdated attitudes,” says front-woman Yousra Mansour, with a shrug. “Which only makes me more determined to express everything I feel. I will not censor myself.”
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central