Yemeni visual artist, Ibi Ibrahim, and journalist/hip-hop DJ, Hanno Stecher, make an unlikely pairing. They first came together as Kabreet in 2014 when they launched a crowd-funding campaign that would eventually equip them to release their debut album in 2016, Momken Bokra, which rang with Arab influences. Their follow-up in 2017, Bidayat, moved towards more indie-pop territory, the Arab influences subsiding somewhat, but still showing up from time-to-time.
For the duo’s latest single, ‘Ana Mashi’, that evolution has continued, though it arrives as a slower, more melancholic take on their usual sound.
Singing of lost love over a steady 4/4 beat that occasionally dips into synthwave territory with its shimmering synths, Kabreet paint a vivid picture of loneliness in the days of social-distancing. Vocals take front-and-centre in the track, and are definitely a highlight of ‘Ana Mashy’, especially during the intense falsetto solo in the last few seconds.
