Abbar El Hamada

Aziza Brahim, a Western Saharan musician and activist, has released her new album Abbar el Hamada (Across the Hamada). It is a commanding and compassionate musical statement reflecting the tumultuous age in which we live.

Raised in a Saharawi refugee camp in the Algerian desert, and living in exile for over two decades (first in Cuba and currently in Barcelona), Brahim's life and music embody both the tragedies and hopes of the present-day migrant and refugee experience.

As walls and borders are being raised throughout Europe and other parts of the world, Aziza Brahim's passionately sung poetic defiance is especially timely and profound. One of the tracks, Los Muros (The Walls), is a dignified desert dreamscape that symbolizes Aziza's artistry.

The lyrics of the song shift from condemning the sand fortifications Morocco has built along the Western Saharan border (to prevent the return of the Saharawi to their homeland) to a recognition that while walls are tragically universal, so is the imaginative spirit that encourages us to transcend them.

Brahim's previous album, the resplendent Soutak, made significant strides in spreading her message of liberation and resistance.