On Sot Wa Sada, Egyptian-Canadian vocalist, dancer, and songwriter Almaazz sounds particularly fresh. Deconstructed club music has always explored the tension created by juxtaposing melodic pop hooks against abrasive, industrial sounds. As the genre’s fractured style has entered mainstream electronic music via artists like Shygirl or Rui Ho, our definitions of pop and club music have expanded. What sets Sot Wa Sada apart is Almaazz’s use of phrasing and repetition, inspired by Arabic songwriting. Her songs are short yet poignant, drawing from folk singing to create modern tracks.
Voice is at the center of Sot Wa Sada, as the title translated as “Voice and Echo” suggests. In an interview about the album, she stresses the importance of dance and rhythmic gymnastics in her upbringing. This penchant for melody is one of the album’s most distinctive traits, as choruses and vocal fragments repeat and build upon each other to hypnotic effect. Opener “123” starts with a polyphonic lament set against pounding drums and dramatic build-ups that evolve into infectious hooks. “Geneya” takes the Arabic folk trope of the wish-granting genie as inspiration to tell a story of unrequited love. Almaazz’s voice is high-octane, reaching a level of intensity that evokes both pain and desire. “Ah” is the only track that somewhat deviates from the formula, taking a more sparse approach to showcase her vocals in a larger-than-life, cinematic setting against dissonant, haunting elements and dancefloor signifiers.
Her songs have a rather simple structure, with a playful spontaneity that lend them a delightful rawness. In the same interview, Almaazz likens her songwriting to a diary, merging short melodies together in an organic manner. There’s a cathartic, stream-of-consciousness quality to the way she switches between verses and iterations, with enough variation to keep things exciting. She also mentions singing in her native language as a vital part of discovering her voice, which contributes to the album’s authentic feel.
Vietnamese-Canadian producer x/o works to fill the gaps between Almaazz’s melodies with syncopated rhythms, broken drum patterns, and aggressive sound design. They often let her vocals carry the track with their production acting as support. Sot Wa Sada embodies the dichotomy of folk and club through brief, addictive tracks that fuse the principles of Arabic composition with the irresistible appeal of pop music to create a mesmerizing electronic dance sound.
