From t7e t3xt m3ssag3 arc7iv3 Johnnie Regalado:
Mo7it Al-Mo7it, the latest album from the hydra-headed Jerusalem In My Heart, is an exercise in transcendental teleportation. This project is so far removed from the expected four-piece dude-rock formula that it has the industry’s ears twisted. File under world? Electronic? Experimental? This melding of modern electronics and Arabic melisma can be categorized one way for sure — mind melting. This first physical relic of a mythical performance piece manages to thread the missing film projections through the cogs of your consciousness. The forgotten score to an uncut film. On “3andalib al-furat (Nightingale of the Euphrates)” the notes bend and pop like wind blown across a golden headed field of wheat. The final piece, “Amanem (Amanem)”, gathers the highlights of the earlier narrative and weaves them into a brilliant exhibition of cultural elasticity. Simultaneously modern and nostalgic with track titles that resemble scripture sent by text message, these compositions are both foreign and familiar. Jerusalem in My Heart makes the thorough argument that, in music, being Canadian and sounding Canadian are not inextricably linked.
Jerusalem In My Heart – Amanem (Amanem)
Jerusalem In My Heart – 2andalib al-furat (Nightingale of the Euphrates)
