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LP
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IF 1080LP
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LP version. On Al Hadr, Sabrina Bellaouel taps into myriad influences: from spirituality, astrology to club culture, romance, the body and self-love. Creating a balance between places, identities, and sounds is a huge part of the charm of Al Hadr. As a true Libra, she's finding a balance between honoring her roots and carving out her future. Following two solo EPs, also on InFiné -- 2020's We Don't Need To Be Enemies and 2021's Libra (IF 2081LP) -- the French-Algerian producer and vocalist's unique style of electronic R&B blossoms with Al Hadr, a 13-track album featuring collaborations with dance producer Basile3, experimental club DJ and writer Crystallmess, jazz musician Monomite, and pop singer Bonnie Banane, among others. Born, raised and based in Bagneux, outside the southern périphérique of Paris, Bellaouel lives between worlds. At home, her Algerian heritage and Muslim faith have fused tight familial bonds and a keen sense of history and culture; as "Berbers", she speaks French and Arabic. In her headphones, she finds comfort in the sparse experimentalism of Radiohead and romantic tales of Jill Scott. On the hot club dance floors of Paris, driving house beats connect her to her body. In swirling these private and public passions together on Al Hadr -- which translates from Arabic as "the present time" -- Bellaouel is the most vulnerable she's ever been on record. Classic neo-soul and silken R&B blend with club electronics. Tender harmonies are sung and rhymes are spoken in English, French, and Arabic, exploring love, faith, and identity. Samples of drum machines are the backbone for wisps of woodwind, strings, keys and environmental "found sounds", including Bellaouel's own live recordings.
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CD
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IF 1080CD
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On Al Hadr, Sabrina Bellaouel taps into myriad influences: from spirituality, astrology to club culture, romance, the body and self-love. Creating a balance between places, identities, and sounds is a huge part of the charm of Al Hadr. As a true Libra, she's finding a balance between honoring her roots and carving out her future. Following two solo EPs, also on InFiné -- 2020's We Don't Need To Be Enemies and 2021's Libra (IF 2081LP) -- the French-Algerian producer and vocalist's unique style of electronic R&B blossoms with Al Hadr, a 13-track album featuring collaborations with dance producer Basile3, experimental club DJ and writer Crystallmess, jazz musician Monomite, and pop singer Bonnie Banane, among others. Born, raised and based in Bagneux, outside the southern périphérique of Paris, Bellaouel lives between worlds. At home, her Algerian heritage and Muslim faith have fused tight familial bonds and a keen sense of history and culture; as "Berbers", she speaks French and Arabic. In her headphones, she finds comfort in the sparse experimentalism of Radiohead and romantic tales of Jill Scott. On the hot club dance floors of Paris, driving house beats connect her to her body. In swirling these private and public passions together on Al Hadr -- which translates from Arabic as "the present time" -- Bellaouel is the most vulnerable she's ever been on record. Classic neo-soul and silken R&B blend with club electronics. Tender harmonies are sung and rhymes are spoken in English, French, and Arabic, exploring love, faith, and identity. Samples of drum machines are the backbone for wisps of woodwind, strings, keys and environmental "found sounds", including Bellaouel's own live recordings.
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IF 2081LP
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The first two EPs of rising French-Algerian singer-producer-songwriter Sabrina Bellaouel on InFiné are presented here on a single 12" vinyl edition for the first time. At the crossroads of modern electronic production, alternative RnB and North African beats, Sabrina Bellaouel offers her listeners an unprecedented mix of grand emotion of the pop stage and the cutting-edge underground flair of buzzing nightclubs. 2020 saw Sabrina Bellaouel step out of her cocoon a fully formed artist. First, there was "We Don't Need To Be Enemies", a powerful and brave record -- directing the limelight away from her talent as a singer and focusing on her honed, meticulous production skill and ingenuity in making demanding, forward thinking music. Bellaouel managed to tell stories of her identity and place in the world almost without a single vocal. Then, there was "Libra" -- fusing her own production with that gorgeous voice -- showcasing a fully formed, trailblazing, independent artist. Sabrina jumps effortlessly between empowering trap on "Arab Liquor" to luscious RnB on "Float" and ends the record with "She Don't Care", a peak time house curveball that you can picture heating up the festival dance floors around Europe. The diverse and powerful EP united different sides of the press in its critical acclaim, receiving accolades from Resident Advisor, Mixmag, The Quietus, Metal Magazine and Pan African Music, just to name a few. Both of these records then, represent a side of the coin. "Solar Return" features Gracy Hopkins.
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