Listening to Afaq Art Production's new single "Bejamalen (With Beauty)" performed by Ziad Kamal feels a bit like stepping out of a chaotic, sun-baked street into the sudden, vaulted vastness of an ancient sanctuary. https://open.spotify.com/album/7GbecQZE3yVH6enRaALvLk?si=seoOwwjgS_SE3MsuPg-rxw Kamal is only twenty-four. He manages the rather fascinating trick of balancing his daily life as a Mechatronics engineer with a profound, academic mastery of Eastern Maqams, violin, and oud. Here,...

Arn-Identified Flying Objects Alien Friend caught me entirely off guard with his single, "John in Roses' Deep". Since setting off on his own in 2020, the Swedish solo artist and former REDMOON singer and guitarist has frequently stirred acoustic Americana and electric power pop together. Here, though, he unearths a pitch-black, traditional murder ballad. https://open.spotify.com/track/0t1vuoXfweiH62utynIwEt?si=aIBBxd2ESI-DrcivYHMIrg The track revolves around a rhythmic, stubbornly cyclical melody that sets...