Jordanian indie charmer, Atef Malhas, has gone all folksy and Mediterranean with his fourth and latest single, ‘Tethanni’ - a track that, despite sitting on the shelf for six years, has a particularly special place in the singer-songwriter’s heart.

“Tethanni is actually the first song that I wrote, around 2014,” he told SceneNoise of a song that looks at the moment following a breakup, but is anything but the melancholic, rage-filled breakup bop we’ve become so used to. “For me it's the most honest song I’ve written so far, as it’s related to a true relationship, which really taught me how to love unconditionally, and that relationships can really end on good terms with love and respect.”

The slightly sombre, but overall feel-good song features a rich arrangement of instrumentation that all comes together to form his arguably his best and richest sound yet.

“I  mainly compose my songs using my classical guitar as a main instrument, so when I first played the song to my producer Sari [Abdul Adel], we both felt it had a Mediterranean vibe that we wanted to emphasise through the arrangement,” Malhas told us. “ So we thought of having the accordion and the trumpet playing melody parts, supporting my classical guitar, along with a brush train beat on the drum. The electric guitar lines were inspired by old surf guitar and spaghetti western film music that also compliment the theme and the story.”

After being part of several bands, including Kashkash, The Chameleons, Mellow Yellow and SemaZen, Malhas set sail on  a solo career in 2018, and released three singles; 2018’s ‘Affon Mennik' and 'Lashog Altareeg’, as well as 2019’s ‘Bahr W Marsa’.

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