{"title":"Simsara Music","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"maurice-louca-bar-y-fera","title":"Maurice Louca 'Barĩy (Fera)'","description":"\u003cp\u003eHypnotic polyrhythms play a central role on Fera, creating the pulse for a sound that’s rich in acoustic tonality and lively energy. Louca uses custom-made, microtonal guitars to explore nuanced phrasings, and his languid interplay with violin, synthesizer, and other instruments lead to moments of vivid beauty. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis wild and adventurous album that Egyptian artist Maurice Louca wrote over a four-year period takes its title from the Latin root for the word feral, and has its origins in a solo set that Louca first developed in 2019; the compositions eventually took their final shape when he recorded them in a Cairo studio in 2024 with a group of longtime collaborators and guests.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe violinist Ayman Asfour, percussionist and drummer \u003cstrong\u003eKhaled Yassine\u003c\/strong\u003e, double bassist \u003cstrong\u003eRosa Brunello\u003c\/strong\u003e and co-producer \u003cstrong\u003eAdham Zidan\u003c\/strong\u003e all play critical roles on the album, and they’re joined on two tracks by multi-instrumentalist \u003cstrong\u003eNancy Mounir\u003c\/strong\u003e (who plays violin and theremin on “El Taalab”) and oud virtuoso \u003cstrong\u003eHazem Shaheen\u003c\/strong\u003e (on “Sahar”). Fera is some of the most composed and thoughtfully-crafted music Louca has ever made, but of course it’s guided by the dynamic experimentation and collaborative spark that have become central to his work.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFera’s artwork was created by another long-time collaborator, visual artist \u003cstrong\u003eMaha Maamoun\u003c\/strong\u003e, using the Decalcomania ink transfer technique, to create dream-like natural forms that emerge through both deliberate manipulation and chance. Residue elements photographed from 6,000-year-old rock art paintings found at the Cave of Swimmers in Gilf Kebir (an area on the Egypt-Libya border) can be seen in the Fera “painting”, which was digitally manipulated for color and other effects along with original typography and graphic design in collaboration with multidisciplinary artist and designer Hussein Nassereddine. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTracklisting:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e Side A\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cbr\u003e1. Polaris \u003cbr\u003e2. Ghab \u003cbr\u003e3. El Taalab \u003cbr\u003e4. Tanamor \u003cbr\u003e5. Lawendi\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSide B\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cbr\u003e1. Sahar \u003cbr\u003e2. Trembler II \u003cbr\u003e3. Barboun \u003cbr\u003e4. Bar?y (Fera)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Simsara Music","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl LP","offer_id":55220508721529,"sku":"SIMSARA004LP","price":26.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0238\/8053\/files\/MauriceLouca.jpg?v=1748517397"},{"product_id":"maryam-saleh-syrr","title":"Maryam Saleh 'Syrr'","description":"\u003cp\u003eSimsara Records is proud to announce Syrr, the new album by Egyptian artist Maryam Saleh, arriving 27 March 2026. A mythic and introspective work, Syrr transforms memory, loss, and lived experience into a shifting world of sound, voice, and embodied emotion. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWritten and composed by Saleh, the album traces a three-part journey—Origin \u0026amp; Image, Vessel, and Intuition \u0026amp; Echo—in which the self is fractured, questioned, reassembled, and ultimately expanded. Blending raw expression with subtle dramatics, Saleh crafts an immersive sonic autobiography rooted in intuition, embodiment, and human becoming. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCo-produced by Maryam Saleh, Maurice Louca, and Kamilya Jubran—who also perform keys, oud and backing vocals throughout—the album’s songs are set to or inspired by existing Egyptian and Arabic song forms (including mawwal, lullaby, madih, muwashshah, taqtuqa and more). The project underwent a rigorous three-year journey of songwriting and composition by Saleh with Kamilya Jubran as mentor before recording.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Syrr” is mixed by Mokhtar El Sayeh and mastered by Heba Kadry, with artwork by Pauline Gouablin (photography), Omar Mostafa (image editing, treatment and inserts design), and Maged El Sokkary (typography and illustration). Lyrics translation by Nariman Youssef. Produced by Simsara Music with support from the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTracklisting:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1. Mawdoo’ Tani \u003cbr\u003e2. El Faqd \u003cbr\u003e3. El Fetra \u003cbr\u003e4. Nafas \u003cbr\u003e5. Ma’na \u003cbr\u003e6. Wanas \u003cbr\u003e7. Alb \u003cbr\u003e8. Khayal \u003cbr\u003e9. Nedaa\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Simsara Music","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl LP","offer_id":56914928664953,"sku":"SIMSARA005","price":26.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0238\/8053\/files\/maryam.jpg?v=1775124636"}],"url":"https:\/\/cargorecordsdirect.co.uk\/collections\/simsara-music.oembed","provider":"Cargo Independent Distribution","version":"1.0","type":"link"}