Killer Opening Songs (Souad Massi-Raoui)

The first time I came across the Algerian singer Souad Massi was via the blog of the other Cuban in London, Ivan Darias. Ivan is a journalist, currently working on a beautiful project that is directly linked to the Cuban presence in the UK. He also hosted a radio programme back in our homeland and apparently, for I never heard it, unfortunately, he used to play very unusual music. The post where he mentioned this North African performer name-checked other artists like Márta Sebestyén, Orquesta Baobab and Cesaria Évora.

After reading that article I set off to dig out as much information as I could about Souad. And I was rewarded for my efforts.

Massi's voice is like the rich, sweet aroma of ripe fruit that autumn brings: plums and figs on the ground, crimson and russet apples, and the opulent, almost decadent, perfume of fat pears. Her timbre is clear but not show-offy. She doesn't try to hit high notes like some of those R'n'B divas whose names had better remain in secret. The effect her voice has on me can only be compared to the same sensation butterflies probably have when blackberries ripen and turn black around this time of year, their warm fruit bursting, exuding perfume attracting these lepidopterans to gorge at the feast. All the songs I have heard so far by her have that heady, rich and deep autumnal feeling that I so much crave to be enveloped by at this time of year.

'Raoui' is the Killer Opening Song from her debut album of the same name and in it Souad mixes various styles and instruments; from guitars to guimbris and ouds. Some of the tracks in the record are slow and mournful whereas others are more up-tempo and rocky.

As a Killer Opening Song, 'Raoui' is a beauty of a track because it eases the listener into a very magical world, that of story-telling. The singer asks Raoui, who is the narrator, to tell her a story from 'The Thousand and One Nights' that will make her forget her own story. Apparently her heart is too full of her own narrative, so she'd rather hear a tale about a sultan's son and an ogre's daughter. Although an adult, the singer would sooner have the same imagination a child has and believe the story-teller's narration in order to forget her own pain and escape from her own present. Beautiful.

Copyright 2008