Take a Trip Through 80s Arab Disco with Tootard's Latest Album 'Migrant Birds'

The ever revolving Golan Heights-born sibling duo of Hasan and Rami Nakhleh take a detour from the bluesy sounds inspired by the Levantine melodies of Al-Sham, reggae and psy-rock on previous album Laissez Passer to take listeners on a glamour-tinted night out in the Arab 80s with Migrant Birds.

Released on Glitterbeat, the 12-track album is a stupendous, dreamy exploration of retro dancefloors inspired by Egypt and Lebanon, where the predominant sound is fueled by the PSR-62 Oriental synthesiser, “When we were little, we had compilations of 80s hits that we played over and over,”  explains keyboardist and guitarist, Hasan. “We didn’t know the artists, but we knew all the melodies and harmonies. A lot of that was dance music. Back then, our family had an Arabic synthesiser with the quarter-tones, called a PSR-62, Oriental Model that I loved to play as a kid. My family still has a similar one. I bought an Oriental and began messing around. That was how Migrant Birds was born.”

Whilst having a background in classical Arabic music, on Migrant Birds, Tootard have fittingly chosen to spread their message of freedom beyond borders (a common theme in their discography, born from the political status of where they grew up, without passports) through the inherently debauched medium of disco. "If I wrote a straight Arabic melody, more like classical music, it would be too long for many people. This keeps the flavour, but it appeals to a broader audience" writes Nakhleh.

The album is full of infectious synth melodies and tap-your-feet-then-slowly-every-other-limb rhythms whilst feeding you with melancholic wanderlust, some more slow and romantic such as 'Ya Ghali' and others more frenetic dabke dance fodder like 'Kiss'. Highlights include the tone-setting intro track, 'Moonlight', and 'Open Sesame' where lead singer of Hawa Dafi Haneen Ayoub sings in English, "open open sesame" and Nakhleh responds “open your heart” like a camp low-key club banger from yesteryear. 

Tootard's Migrant Birds is available for purchase from Bandcamp and on all music streaming platforms.