Deena Abdelwahed announces new album 'Jbal Rrsas'

Saturday Jun 3rd 2023

Deena Abdelwahed draws as much from clubbing as she does from the avant-garde scene. Since the release of her debut LP Khonnar, the DJ and producer has been showered with praise for the fine-drawn ways in which her work paints the diversity of Arabic music.

On 8 September, Abdelwahed will release her new album Jbal Rrsas, which she will present at Le Guess Who? 2023. It was produced as part of Consortium Commissions, an initiative set up to showcase emerging artists from the Arab world, run by Brussels-based NGO Mophradat.

None of the album's tracks will be released ahead of release due to a desire to present the record as one whole project. The album was mastered by Heba Kadry, who also curated her performance for Le Guess Who? 2023.

Curated by Heba Kadry News snacks

Deena Abdelwahed has now also release a video introduction to her new album; watch below:

Earlier this year, Deena Abdelwahed released the Flagranti EP: a soundtrack to the Tunisian play of the same name (created by Essia Jaïbi), "the first work in the Arabic-speaking world to openly and publicly address the challenges and realities of the LGBTQI+ community", as Bandcamp describes it. Revisit the work below.

<a href="https://deenabdelwahed.bandcamp.com/album/flagranti-ost">Flagranti (OST) by Deena Abdelwahed</a>

"In short, Jbal Rrsas is Abdelwahed doing what she has been doing best, molding rhythms and sounds until they resonate with her inner rhythm. "For me, it's a hack," she says. "To hack the music that makes everyone dance. I find my soul in it." - Bandcamp

Read more about the artist, and listen to her work from throughout the years, via a wonderful piece by Christina Hazboun for Bandcamp entitled 'Deena Abdelwahed Dreams New Futures Through Dance Music'.

Deena Abdelwahed performs at Le Guess Who? 2023 on Friday, 10 November as part of the curated program by Heba Kadry.