Having officially come into being just last year, Cairo-based
band, Skeletons, are pretty fresh to the scene as an outfit. The five-man group,
founded by seasoned musician, Omar Ashour, showed what they’re about in
November with debut single, ‘Ostinato’ – an instrumental track that’s rock at
its core, but waded into the kind of 80s funk that the likes of Prince
championed.
The band’s latest track, ‘This Process’, goes deeper into a
genre that most have come to know as the Minneapolis Sound – a fusion of funk
rock, synth-pop and new wave. Citing Depeche Mode, Frank Zappa and Daft Punk as
influences for the track and video, the lyrics sees Ashour explore themes of
freedom. "I think it's incredibly challenging to try to be free in this
world,” he explains. To free yourself from ego, social programming, ideas
passed down from the family/tribe...this is an incredibly painful process, as
far as I'm concerned. It makes sense to me why so many thinkers, scholars,
philosophers, prophets, artists, and others throughout history dwelled on these
matters so much. So, with this song, I feel many things, including pain,
liberation, and comfort.”
While Skeletons have an upcoming album set to be released before
the end of the year, ‘This Process’ was actually written and recorded by Ashour
before he had begun working with the other members. “The beat and harmonic
elements came to me well before the melody or words did. I wrote the lyrics
out, while sort of rapping along to the beat, and then lastly came the melody,”
he adds.
Though little has been revealed about the band’s debut
album, if the first two songs under their name are anything to go by, we could
be in for something quite unique. Funk, disco, synth-pop and other musical
marvels of yesteryear have largely found a place in the Middle East’s contemporary
music scene with either nostalgic DJs or experimental indie acts. There’s definitely room for a band that just
wants to make upbeat, catchy music, informed by past greats.
Follow Skeletons on Instagram, Soundcloud and Facebook.
