Mustafa
Dunya
Jagjaguwar
Listen Below
Mustafa’s second album Dunya is largely a simple, straightforward affair without bells, whistles or many other extravagances. It is, at its heart, a man with a guitar singing songs of love and loss. There are, undoubtedly, sprinkles of other things, but the power of this album comes from its simplicity.
It might seem harsh to say, but his voice is simple too. It’s the antithesis of those endless talent show voices, the ones who hit the most notes, but render you bored and alienated by their lack of ability to make you feel anything beyond the precision involved in the notes they sing. His range and projection may be more limited than some, but he possesses a voice imbued with such innate melancholy and depth of feeling, that every syllable is felt right down to the core.
This generally straightforward attitude that prevails is further underlined by the guests who feature on the album. Given the buzz around his previous work and his contributions to some superstar work, there must have been a line around the block of others wanting to feature on Mustafa’s future projects, but a glance at the track listing shows just long-time friend Daniel Caesar. A deeper delve into the credits (remember those liner note things?) does, however, reveal a couple of vocalists of note—Spanish artist Rosalia sings on two songs and Swedish artist Snoh Aalegra on one. But these three features never detract from the essence of the project.
The theme of the album can best be described as Mustafa struggling with the weight of human frailty—Dunya after all can be translated from Arabic as “the world in all its flaws.” He laments lost love on “What Good Is a Heart,” the decay of friendship on “What Happened, Mohamed?” and addresses, in his own subtle way, the ongoing situation in “Gaza Is Calling.” Life weighs heavy on Mustafa, but it never feels overly gloomy thanks to the humanity that shines through at every turn. Though his stories are deeply personal, they resonate on a universal level.
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When he sings about the pain of friendships fading from sight, there’s a degree of acceptance and a very obvious love that abounds, in lines like, “And when the boy came, you drew to the stage / And maybe you thought it would take it away / But all that it did was platform the pain / And I was right where you are / But this hood tore us apart / I don’t blame you for losing your heart.”
Though the album is dominated by the guitar and Mustafa’s vocals, there are slight flashes of other sounds throughout. On “Imaan,” there’s a sample that adds a touch of the Arabian or Somali peninsula, Kibrom Birhane adds lute and strings to “What Good Is a Heart?” and there is an outburst of beats at the end of “Gaza Is Calling.” All of these add depth, interest and variety in subtly important ways.
My overriding thought at the conclusion of this wonderful album was a wish that the artist would find some sense of peace and happiness, as the album shows a man grappling with life’s struggles and the shifting sands of his existence. I’m not sure what a “happy” Mustafa would sound like on record, but by God he deserves a healthy dose of happiness after bringing such a delightful, if emotionally weighty, artistic statement to life.
Notable Tracks: “Gaza Is Calling” | “Name of God” | “Nouri” | “What Good Is a Heart”
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