Tracks of dialogue with ghosts summoned by a composer who inherits traditional Egyptian music, where the past and the present intersect.
Based in Cairo, Egypt, Nancy Mounir is a composer and multi-instrumentalist well versed in violin, piano, basse, theremin and the traditional Egyptian reed flute Kawara. She also has a unique musical background which saw her as a member of the metal band Massive Scar Era in the past. She helps to modernize the traditional techniques of Arabic music gained through research on Egyptian singers from the 1920s and their musical life.
Her debut album, Nozhet El Nofous, means "Promenade of the Souls" in Arabic and brings the passion of Egyptian singers (she calls them "ghosts") who were active in the early 20th century to the present day.
For example, the song "Khafif Khafif" recorded in this work uses the archive recording of Saleh Abdel Hay, who was famous at that time. The recording, which sounds like a magical prayer of a ghost, has been reconstructed with a modern ambient arrangement. The rough sound quality like a frayed tape makes her feel the rebellion, open air and heat of that time as if she were traveling in time. Also, this unique emotional sound, which uses a sub-scale tune called "Makam", which is often used in Arabic music, may not be familiar to listeners who are accustomed to Western music tunes at first. But once you get used to it, you might just feel the slow pull of this graceful and fantastic world. Encounters with Egypt's past souls will give you new musical experiences and inspiration you’ve never experienced before.