Deena Abdelwahed - Khonnar (InFiné, 2018)
‘Khonnar’ is a Tunisian word that stands for the dark, shameful and disturbing side of things, that which we usually try to hide. Deena Abdelwahed pushes us into the hidden. In stark contrast to the jubilant party scene on her previous EP ‘Klabb’. As such you’re in for a surprise when you get a subdued, introspective record influenced by her Tunisian roots. While the beats remain omnipresent and her voice becomes more prominent. Deena Abdelwahed explores who she is as an artist, rocking on the fault line between East and West. A fault line that she would rather not see crumble any further, because it only leads to frustration and obstruction. This puts Abdelwahed at the forefront of a new generation of SWANA-artists who want to emancipate themselves from Western influence and male domination; a decolonisation where the personal individual is finally allowed to be themselves. Musically, this results in a beautiful symbiosis of two cultures. SWANA-sounds in duet with Western rhythms. Abdelwahed also does not shy away from irony and caricatures the Western appropriation of these sounds in “Tawa”. On the musically complex ‘Fdhiha’ she draws an overt political map and rebels. Although her influences include artists such as Björk, Aphex Twin, The Knife and Autechre, Abdelwahed creates a unique sound that blatantly bridges East and West, not erasing the differences but fusing them into a new reality. Free-spirited and immensely aware of what she wants to shake off. This leads to beautiful musical combinations on ‘Khonnar’. The subdued verse of ‘Al Hobb Al Mouharreb’ contrasts sharply with the IDM-drenched ‘5/5’ and the experimental ‘A Scream in The Consciousness’.
Released on InFiné,