Jowan Safadi Talks Heartbreak, Infidelity & Masculinity in Gripping New EP ‘IJMAD (Man Up)’

In 2019, Palestinian singer-singwriter and producer, Jowal Safadi, released his sophomore album, Stay Away from the Mid-Evil East and Sing for it, to great acclaim, leaving fans to wonder how he could possibly follow it up. Almost two years later, the Haifa-based musician has taken a very different tact, doing away with the expansive ensemble cast of musicians present on his second album and simply doing it all himself.

IJMAD (Man Up) sees the multi-instrumentalist go almost entirely solo, handling all elements of the album’s conception alongside producer, arranger and mixing engineer Muhammad Abu Ahmad (Mhauesh).

Across 10 tracks that flow between somber indie-rock, electronically inclined bedroom-pop, lo-fi cassette-based guitar and voice solo productions, Safadi tackles a range of subjects including heartbreak, infidelity and traditional roles of masculinity, all through his unique lens and lived experience in Palestine. <iframe style="border: 0; width: 700px; height: 1136px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=434577411/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://jowansafadi1.bandcamp.com/album/ijmad-man-up">IJMAD (Man Up) إجمد by Jowan Safadi</a></iframe>