Simo Cell & Abdullah Miniawy Reunite on Album ‘Dying is the Internet’

Egyptian singer and composer Abdullah Miniawy has joined forces with Algerian-Argentinian producer Simo Cell on a new album, Dying is the Internet, marking their second collaborative project since their 2020 EP Kill Me or Negotiate. 

Released under Dekmantel’s UFO - a series under the Dekmantel imprint that focuses on experimental and futuristic electronic music, including darkwave funk and industrial textures - Dying is the Internet takes Miniawy and Cell’s music into unexplored territory, with the pair presenting an inventive reflection on the nature of club culture and digital fatigue or describing it, “a playful prophecy about the triggers of a new global revolution.” 

Deliberately at odds with the reel-ready two-minute attention span of the average social media surfer, they craft a wildly original kind of heavyweight dance music, where Miniawy’s piercing Arabic poetry burrows into a shroud of bass-heavy minimalism that barely masks Cell’s detailed productions. 

From Miniawy’s slow-burning trumpet lines looming through the low-slung groove of ‘Reels in 360’ and ‘Travelling in BBC’ to the lively handclaps on ‘Living Emojis’, the eight-track record slings out hooks left, right and center. We find Miniawy experimenting more with auto-tune, while Cell develops his sound design chops and compositional instincts, moving closer to fully realised sonic structures without losing the fundamental clubbiness of each track. 

Even the beatless flourish of the Miniawy-produced ‘Tear Chime’ comes packed with a sensory rush at the mid-section of the album, bookended by some of the most idiosyncratic club music in recent memory. Meanwhile, Kenyan powerhouse Lord Spikeheart’s contribution on the opening track, ‘I See The Stadium’, adds an extra snarl to the stripped-back, slow-burning production. 

Dying is the Internet is a cohesive body of work that highlights Miniawy and Cell’s ability to make space for each other while letting their distinctive sonic identities ring loud, further positioning them amongst some of the most innovative artists in the electronic scene.