Alsarah & The Nubatones
Wait what? Was pretty much our reaction, when we first heard Alsarah & The Nubatones perform three songs off their sophomore album "Manara" live for NPR's Tiny Desk concert series.
Based in Brooklyn and blending "a selection of Nubian 'songs of return' from the 1970s-today with original material and traditional music of central Sudan" , the Sudanese-born Alsarah and her band The Nubatones (composed of Alsarah [vocals], Nahid [additional vocals], Rami El Aasser [percussion], Mawuena Kodjovi [bass] and Brandon Terzic [oud]) made a name for themselves with their distinctive brand of "East African retro pop".
Stories of the diaspora, of movement and migration in light of current anti-immigrant tendencies, wrapped in soulful compositions to transcend remaining cultural and linguistic barriers, always asking, “What is home?” and “What does it sound like?”; such is the musical art of Alsarah & The Nubatones, quite simply, a thing of beauty.
“Sometimes we leave home willingly, sometimes we are forced out, sometimes we plan to go back, and sometimes we don’t know if we will ever see our loved ones again. But one thing we always know is that we don’t want to forget, or be forgotten. As the sea takes us, Manara is the lighthouse anchoring our journey, and the keeper of our secrets. Not a destination, but rather a marker along the way”, explains Alsarah.
In the same vein, the band just released a brand new visual to "3roos Elneel", which sets mermaid-like singers Alsarah and Nahid before a magical underwater scenery by designer/director/producer Maryam Parwana.
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