Egyptian
singer-songwriter and producer, Dina El Wedidi, has stripped down her sound for
her new single, ‘Kont Bakhaf’, a much more minimalist offering from the artist
compared to her debut album Turning Back’s Egyptian folkrloric leanings
and follow up-album Slumber’s more experimental electronically-produced
stylings.
With a
simple arrangement of guitar, bass and keyboard, El Wedidi’s vocals are much
more measured and restrained than the powerful voice she has come to be known
for, a fitting approach to the wistful lyrics, written by Nada Shabrawy.
“I was
afraid of the dark, I tried to overcome my fear/Now I'm afraid of the dark and I'm
afraid of the light and the shade,” El Wedidi sings, in simple, catchy Arabic
rhymes, before touching on other fears of modern life - death, love, loneliness
and other thorny topics where emotion clashes with philosophy.
The
majority of the song progresses with a simple guitar melody, though keyboard chords
that drip of a summery melancholy act as a break between verses and inject a
psychedelic folk aesthetic to proceedings.
It marks a
welcome return for Wedidi, who despite only releasing two full albums in the
span of eight years, stands as one of the most unique artists in the Middle East,
her LPs deemed as two of the most important and distinctive examples of east meeting
west in contemporary Arab music.
