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CD Review
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The Boston Globe, CD Review >>
Souad Massi
MESK ELIL
Wrasse Records
The third album from Algeria's Souad Massi, who counts Emmylou Harris and Stevie Wonder among her idols, brims with the limpid directness of the best singer-songwriters. Her songs convey sincerity whether or not one understands the Arabic lyrics, which deal with classic themes such as love, nostalgia, distance, and regret. Massi, 33, tends to be labeled a folk artist, perhaps because of this emotional quality, but as much, one suspects, for lack of a better moniker. The selections on ''Mesk Elil," which means ''honeysuckle," display a far greater range, from the raucous desert incantations of ''Ilham" to the fado of ''Malou" and the lighter pop of the duet ''Tell Me Why," with its slightly awkward English refrain. Flamenco and morna enter the frame as well, as does a West African contribution from Mauritania's Daby Touré, along with Algeria's homegrown raï and chaâbi rhythms. The danger of overload that turns so many world-music albums into a multicultural dog's breakfast lurks here as well, but Massi has the voice, and the classical training in the Arab-Andalusian sources that all these genres share, to keep it all together. Impeccable accompaniment by a crack team of mainly Paris-based international musicians doesn't hurt either. Still, the most lasting impact comes from stripped-down, deceptively simple songs like the gem ''Dar Dgedi," on which Massi expresses a smoldering lyricism with casual, almost conversational ease.
11/18/05
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