Radiohead/The Smile guitarist Jonny Greenwood and Israeli rock musician Dudu Tassa have teamed up for a new album called Jarak Qaribak. It’s slated for release on June 9 via World Circuit. Today’s announcement comes with the release of the lead single ‘Ashufak Shay’, which features Lebanese vocalist Rashid Al Najjar. Check it out below, and scroll down for the LP’s cover artwork and tracklist.
Greenwood and Tassa co-produced Jarak Qaribak, which was mixed by longtime Radiohead collaborator Nigel Godrich. “When people listen to this music,” Tassa said in a press release, “I really love to imagine them thinking…what is this? It sounds 1970s, but there are drum machines, there are guitars but they’re singing in Arabic…what’s going on?”
“We didn’t want to make out that we’re making any political point, but I do understand that as soon as you do anything in that part of the world it becomes political, even if it’s just artistic,” Greenwood commented. “Actually, possibly especially if it’s artistic.”
Tassa added: “Israel is a small country between all those countries, so we’re very influenced by those cultures and by that music. And a lot of us in Israel—like my family—are descended from people who came here from elsewhere in the Middle East, so everything gets mixed up.”
Jarak Qaribak Cover Artwork:
Jarak Qaribak Tracklist:
1. Djit Nishrab [feat. Ahmed Doma]
2. Ashufak Shay [feat. Rashid Al Najjar]
3. Taq ou-Dub [feat. Nour Freteikh]
4. Leylet Hub [feat. Mohssine Salaheddine]
5. Ya Mughir al-Ghazala [feat. Karrar Alsaadi]
6. Ahibak [feat. Safae Essafi]
7. Ya ‘Anid Ya Yaba [feat. Lynn A.]
8. Lhla Yzid Ikthar
