Dudu Tassa and Jonny Greenwood announce new album Jarak Qaribak

Produced by Tassa & Greenwood and mixed by Nigel Godrich, Jarak Qaribak brings together vocalists and musicians from throughout the Middle East for an album of cross-border collaborations. In keeping with the theme established by the album’s title – which translates to "Your Neighbour Is Your Friend" – each singer takes a turn at a tune from a country other than their own

"Ashufak Shay" featuring Lebanese vocalist Rashid al-Najjar, is the first track to be unveiled from the forthcoming album.

“When people listen to this music,” says Tassa, “I really love to imagine them thinking. . . what is this? It sounds [from the] 1970s, but there are drum machines, there are guitars but they’re singing in Arabic. . . what’s going on?”

When assembling the tracks on Jarak Qaribak, Greenwood reflects he was “trying to imagine what Kraftwerk would have done if they’d been in Cairo in the 1970s".

The pair have collaborated previously, with Greenwood playing guitar on "Eize Yom" from Tassa's 2009 album Basof Mitraglim Le’Hakol (In The End You Get Used To Everything).

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
9. Jan al-Galb Salik (feat. Noamane Chaari & Zaineb Elouati)