A Paradise In The Hold (2025)

"Drawing on the polyrhythmic Arab sea-music fijiri and wedding poetry, the album marks the first time Ahmed has collaborated with other singers. On opener "She Stands on the Shore", vocalist Natacha Atlas’s warm tenor interweaves seamlessly with Ahmed’s plaintive trumpet melody, swelling over bowed bass to evoke the undulating waves, while Randolph Matthews’ lower register on "To The Lonely Sea" artfully embodies an eerie sense of hard winds and crashing waves. The 10-minute title track is a highlight. Pearl-diving music is an a cappella vocal tradition for guiding ship workers by blending rhythmic droning with high-register melody, and Ahmed uses a processed sample of one such performance to build a vamping groove alongside bass clarinettist George Crowley’s expressive solo and percussionist Corrina Silvester’s extended darbuka break. The effect is infectiously jubilant, drawing the listener into Ahmed’s distinct and modern imagining of Bahraini tradition." (The Guardian; 4 uit 5 sterren)