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LP
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IF 1084LP
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LP version. Building off of the themes of identity, storytelling and experimentation on her critically acclaimed debut album, Khonnar (2018), Deena Abdelwahed's album Jbal Rrsas is the next chapter of a reimagining of what club music could be. The album spans seven tracks of bass, techno, and experimental music, with Abdelwahed consulting with masterminds like Tunisian composer and multi-instrumentalist Khalil Hentati, aka Khalil Epi, and Iraqi-British multi-instrumentalist, composer, and researcher Khyam Allami, as well as Egyptian mastering engineer Heba Kadry, to help realise her vision. Jbal Rrsas starts with the seductively apocalyptic opener, "The Key to the Exit," a deconstructed sha'bi production. With tracks like "Six as Oil" and the delightfully intense "Violence for Free," Abdelwahed leads users to a desert rave, where industrial rhythms are left unbridled. Abdelwahed's vocals on "Complain" and "Pre-Island" are powerful and exposed, confidently placed on dizzying avant-garde productions. The Wire previously said "[Khonnar is] an assured debut that sits on the edge of a whole swathe of possibilities, not only sonic but also geographical, social and political." With Jbal Rrsas finds Abdelwahed deftly navigating through those possibilities, frequently pushing against genres, labels, and social identifiers, while elevating club music to otherworldly heights.
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CD
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IF 1084CD
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Building off of the themes of identity, storytelling and experimentation on her critically acclaimed debut album, Khonnar (2018), Deena Abdelwahed's album Jbal Rrsas is the next chapter of a reimagining of what club music could be. The album spans seven tracks of bass, techno, and experimental music, with Abdelwahed consulting with masterminds like Tunisian composer and multi-instrumentalist Khalil Hentati, aka Khalil Epi, and Iraqi-British multi-instrumentalist, composer, and researcher Khyam Allami, as well as Egyptian mastering engineer Heba Kadry, to help realise her vision. Jbal Rrsas starts with the seductively apocalyptic opener, "The Key to the Exit," a deconstructed sha'bi production. With tracks like "Six as Oil" and the delightfully intense "Violence for Free," Abdelwahed leads users to a desert rave, where industrial rhythms are left unbridled. Abdelwahed's vocals on "Complain" and "Pre-Island" are powerful and exposed, confidently placed on dizzying avant-garde productions. The Wire previously said "[Khonnar is] an assured debut that sits on the edge of a whole swathe of possibilities, not only sonic but also geographical, social and political." With Jbal Rrsas finds Abdelwahed deftly navigating through those possibilities, frequently pushing against genres, labels, and social identifiers, while elevating club music to otherworldly heights.
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LP
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IF 1048LP
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Deena Abdelwahed's first album is shifting the epicenter of contemporary electronic music south. Khonnar, pronounced "Ronnar" (an essential detail so as to avoid facile misinterpretation by French-speakers) it is a term that makes the most of Tunisia's cultural and linguistic spectrum. It evokes the dark, shameful and disturbing side of things, the one we usually seek to hide, but which Deena instead sticks our noses in with her debut. It is a testament to Deena's coming into her own as a world citizen, and as an artist. A self-construction made of frustrations and constraints, borne of retrograde mindsets, which are not the prerogative of either the East or the West, and which she tirelessly strives to expose and break. Throughout the 45 minutes of Khonnar, Deena breaks down the codes of bass, techno and experimental music, and writes the manifesto for a generation that does not seek to please or to conform, taking back control of its identity -- with all the attendant losses and chaos. A new creative world order is taking shape, a new tilting point between north and south, the response of a connected and liberated youth who takes the control of the new decolonization.
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12"
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IF 2078EP
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Tunisian leftfield experimentalist Deena Abdelwahed returns with an EP that takes her message back to the dancefloor. Straying away from personal identification, these tracks focus in on the sonic influences of her home region, be it in terms of rhythmic structure, sampling or other local sources. A highly versatile package for any forward-thinking DJ and further proof of this producer's unique ability to fuse Arabic music references with club music.
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12"
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IF 2076EP
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Emerging artists rarely exceed listeners' expectations with a complete album right out of the box, but Deena Abdelwahed is the exception that proves the rule. While the young artist of Tunisian origin stood out with her daring DJ sets, it is her surprising first album, Khonnar, released on InFiné (2018), which sealed her status of eclectic producer, guaranteeing her a place among the best releases of the year. Khonnar Remixes compiles a series of remixes in 12", inspired by the unique atmosphere of Deena Abdelwahed's first album. Remixes by M.E.S.H., Karen Gwyer, Ital Tek, and Lord of The Isles.
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