Celebrated singer, musician and producer Dudu Tassa teams up with award-winning composer and guitarist Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead, The Smile) for a new album ‘Jarak Qaribak’, out 9th June on World Circuit Records. Produced by Tassa & Greenwood and

mixed by Nigel Godrich, ‘Jarak Qaribak’ brings together vocalists and musicians from throughout the Middle East for a very special album of cross-border collaborations

‘Jarak Qaribak’ translates - ‘Your Neighbour Is Your Friend'.

It’s an expansive, inclusive sentiment. The songs on the album, and the singers, are drawn from all over the Middle East – and, in keeping with the theme established by the album’s title, each singer takes a turn at a tune from a country other than their own. So ‘Djit Nishrab’, a sultry, slow-building lament to love gone wrong by 1940s Algerian singer Ahmed Wahby, is performed by the 2020s Egyptian singer Ahmed Doma. ‘Taq ou-Dub’, a defiant kiss-off, is performed by the Palestinian singer Nour Freteikh. When Dudu takes a lead vocal himself, it’s on ‘Lhla Yzid Ikhtar, borrowed from Morocco. When a Moroccan – in this instance Mohssine Salaheddine – steps up, it’s on the Egyptian track ‘Leylet Hub’. The Jordanian traditional ‘Ya ‘Anid Ya Yaba’ is sung by a Syrian. And when the song is Israeli – as ‘Ahibak’ is – it’s sung by Safae Essafi, from Dubai.

‍