We have been under the spell of Jerusalem In My Heart‘s compelling and entrancing compositions for a while now, so we’re excited to know they are back with a new album. Entitled Daqa’iq Tudaiq, which translates as “minutes that bother/oppress/harass”, it follows 2015’s widely acclaimed If He Dies, If If If If If If and arrives on October 5th through Constellation. Currently operating as the duo of extraordinary composer and producer Radwan Ghazi Moumneh and Charles-André Coderre delivering live projections on 16mm film, the new album sees Jerusalem In My Heart continue “to expand the horizons of its profound conceptual and aesthetic engagement with Arabic/Middle-Eastern traditions”, as the press release describes.
Envisioned by Moumneh for a long time, side one is a dream come true, featuring a modern orchestral version of the popular Egyptian classic Ya Garat Al Wadi by Mohammad Abdel Wahab. To bring this adaptation to life, Moumneh assembled a 15-piece orchestra in Beirut, and prolific composer and musician Sam Shalabi as arranger and musical director.
On side two the record offers four tracks by Moumneh “which push rupture and decomposition/recomposition of tradition further into avant-garde territory”. The otherworldly and mesmerising ‘Thahab, Mish Roujou’, Thahab’ is one of these four tracks, and it serves as a wonderful first taste for what’s to come. The track comes with a video by Charles-André Coderre. Watch it below.

In other related news, Jerusalem In My Heart have announced a string of live dates in Canada and Europe, including a show at London’s Cafe Oto on November 15th. The tour will also see them return to Le Guess Who? this November, after enriching the festival last year as one of its phenomenal co-curators. With a special live performance in store on November 8th, they will present the project Don’t Say The Moon Has Set with an oriental orchestra from Beirut.