Between the Sword and the Neck

No Man return with Between the Sword and the Neck, their second album for Iodine Records. Across 26 blistering minutes, the Washington, D.C. quartet folds the crushing weight of Erase into the sharpened urgency of Glitter and Spit, landing at their most intense and intimate yet.

Rooted in the Arabic word “sumud,” meaning steadfastness or perseverance, the record draws deeply from vocalist Maha Shami’s experience as the daughter of Palestinian refugees. Its title, from Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani, speaks to the impossibility of real negotiation between oppressor and oppressed.

Guests Kat Hidalgo and Jenna Pup appear on In Spite. In Tongues includes quotations from Ghassan Kanafani, Fadwa Tuqan, and Mahmoud Darwish, plus Kamelah Shami, daughter of Maha Shami and Matthew Michel. Self-produced, mixed by Matthew Michel, mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege.