The debut album by Moroccan-French four-piece Bab L’Bluz is out now on all digital platforms. The album’s title Nayda! refers to a new youth movement of Moroccan artists and musicians taking their cues from local heritage, singing words of freedom in the Moroccan-Arabic dialect of darija (‘nayda’ means both ‘to rise up’ and ‘to party’).
“More than anything we’re a rock band,” declares frontwoman Yousra Mansour, who sings, ululates and fires riffs from her goatskin-covered awicha [small guembri] like some Berber warrior goddess. “We use the awicha as a guitar and the guembri as a bass, both at different tunings. We channel our huge range of influences into music that crosses borders and travels through time.”
We saw Bab L’Bluz perform live in Montpellier, France in September during the 15th annual Festival Arabesques and they were amazing.
(Stay tuned for an interview with Yousra Mansour coming out soon in TMR.)
