Exploring the language of love

Fanna-Fi Allah have been gaining millions of views on Youtube with their insight into their traditional Sufi Qawwali music. Qawwali is all about the passionate expression of love being explored through art, music, poetry and language. Fanna-Fi Allah take their exploration of this into traditional Sufi music with rich percussion, harmonium drones and vocal improvisations in their new album “Muraqaba”.

“Muraqaba” takes five tracks and runs over an hour, with each having improvisational sections before coming together for joyous celebratory choruses or refrains. They are less about actual melody and chords, but more around waves of emotion and beats. “Chashme Rahmut” is one of the best examples of this as over the course of its ten minutes the tempo and intensity of its rhythms and chants evolve and break from a walk to a sprint as the band work their way into a galloping frenzy. It’s a triumphant feeling that envelopes you and pushes you into a dance. Other tracks follow similar patterns, with the closing track “Dama Dam” feeling particularly festival like as the beats and tempos swap in and out effortlessly. It’s worthwhile noting that Chris Martin of Coldplay produced the album and the way the percussion really bounces without buzzing on the low end of the tablas sounds great. Often the lower quality audio production on some of the more traditional world music albums is actually part of their charm but here each instrument is crystal clear and it lets Fanna-Fi Allah shine.

“Muraqaba” is an album of pure celebration. Traditional, delightfully upbeat and full of rhythm and rise – if you’d like to take a dive into Indian and Pakistani music – Fanna-Fi Allah has served up a treat for you to enjoy.

Recommended track: Chashme Rahmut

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