Musical artist
Emel Mathlouthi
(
Arabic
:
???? ????????
) (born 11 January 1982), also known professionally as
Emel
,
[1]
is a Tunisian-American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger and producer. She rose to fame with her
protest song
"
Kelmti Horra
" ("My Word is Free"), which became an anthem for the
Tunisian Revolution
and the
Arab Spring
. Her first studio album, also titled
Kelmti Horra
, was released worldwide in 2012 to critical acclaim: she combined Arabic roots with western influence. Her second album,
Ensen
, was released in 2017, blending electronica with classical music. On
Everywhere We Looked Was Burning
in 2019, she sang all the lyrics in English.
In 2020, the video of her song "Holm" ("A Dream") that she sings in
Tunisian Arabic
, had been viewed several million times within a few months. "Holm" was included in the double album
The Tunis Diaries
which she recorded with just a voice, an acoustic guitar as the sole instrument and a laptop. Holm is an Arabic remake of the Iranian song "Soltane Ghalbhaa" with music composed by
Anoushiravan Rohani
and original lyrics by Emel Mathlouthi.
She has also collaborated with other musicians such as
Tricky
,
Valgeir Sigurðsson
,
Steve Moore
and
Vitalic
.
Early life
[
edit
]
Emel Mathlouthi started singing and acting at 8 years old in a suburb of her hometown Tunis. She wrote her first song when she was 10 years old. She discovered her strong vocal capacities when she was 15, encouraged by her entourage and inspired by great pop singers of the 90's. She found a strong refuge in heavy metal a bit later and gothic music and formed her first metal band at a university in Tunis when she was 19. A few years later deeply moved by the voice and ideas of
Joan Baez
after her bandmate played "
The Boxer
" for her, she quit the band and began writing political songs, discovering her frustration by the lack of opportunities and the apathy of her compatriots, such as "Ya Tounes Ya Meskina" ("Poor Tunisia"). In 2006 she was a finalist in the Prix RMC Moyen-Orient Musique competition.
[2]
She decided to move to Paris, France in 2008 when the Tunisian government banned her songs from radio and TV.
[3]
Although banned from Tunisian airwaves, bootlegs of her live performances in France circulated on the internet in Tunisia. After the death of
Mohamed Bouazizi
she dedicated an Arabic version of the Joan Baez song "
Here's To You
" to him.
[4]
Career
[
edit
]
In early 2011, she was recorded on the
Avenue Habib Bourguiba
singing "Kelmti Horra" to protesters and it became a viral video.
[5]
[6]
[7]
NPR
wrote that the song was a "declaration of independence, a statement of hard-earned liberation".
[8]
This was part of the Arab Spring protests.
[9]
Kelmti Horra (My Word is Free)
(2012?2016)
[
edit
]
Emel Mathlouthi released her debut,
Kelmti Horra
, in January 2012.
[10]
It received critical acclaim. In a four out of five star review,
The Guardian
praised the album for twisting together Arabic roots with western flavours ? some rock but mostly cavernous trip-hop. "The mix works well on stand-outs "Dhalem" and "Ma Ikit", where Mathlouthi's striking vocals find most melody; elsewhere, the understandably serious mood of protest and sadness flatlines somewhat. A powerful new voice, none the less".
[11]
The album was influenced by
Joan Baez
,
Massive Attack
, and
Bjork
. As a politically aware musician, the songs in the album have made promising duty to speak out on any injustice that Emel has witnessed about her beloved Tunisia. While she sings about humanity and a better world, the success of this album has made her to reach many more people in different parts of the world.
She gave concerts in Egypt and
Iraq
, and performed in Canada at the
Vancouver Folk Music Festival
and the
Festival du Monde Arabe de Montreal
.
[12]
At the beginning of July 2012, she gave a groundbreaking concert in
Baghdad
, Iraq.
[13]
On 28 July she gave a concert at the
Sfinks Festival
in Belgium, where she received a standing ovation for her cover of the
Leonard Cohen
song "
Hallelujah
".
[14]
In 2013, after her first concert in Cairo since the revolution, Ahram Online described her as "The
Fairuz
of her generation". She opened for
Dead Can Dance
at the festival
Les nuits de Fourviere
in
Lyon
and performed at the
WOMAD Festival
at
Charlton Parkin
the UK. Israeli authorities refused to let her enter
Ramallah
to perform, so she sang in front of a camera in Jordan. The small show was broadcast to the Palestinian audience in a theater in Ramallah.
As the song, "Kelmti Horra" (My Word is Free), was considered as "the anthem of the Arab Spring," it has been Emel's most famous song so far. The outstanding success of this song led her to perform it on 11 December 2015, during the award ceremony of the
2015 Nobel Peace Prize
in Oslo,
[15]
which was awarded to the
Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet
. At the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony, she performed two renditions of her song "Kelmti Horra," one accompanied only by a guitarist, Karim Attoumane, and the other with a full orchestra and chorus. The concert was hosted by
Jay Leno
, who praised her in the concert press conference as being the first Arabic-language singer to catch his attention.
During that time, she collaborated with
Tricky
and provided leading vocals on his song "Emel".
[16]
Ensen (Human)
(2017?2018)
[
edit
]
Ensen
(
Human
) was released in February 2017 by
Partisan Records
.
[17]
The album was recorded in seven countries including Iceland, Sweden, France, and the US.
[18]
Producers of the album include the former
Bjork
collaborator, Icelandic producer
Valgeir Sigurðsson
and Emel's main collaborator Franco-Tunisian producer Amine Metani.
[19]
Pitchfork
hailed the first single off the album, "Ensen Dhaif" (Human, Helpless Human), as "a gorgeously ornamented fusion of towering beats and darkly-shaded Arabic minor scales. Its incendiary tone is conducted by Mathlouthi's galvanic voice, which is at turns vulnerable and strong. On "Ensen Dhaif" you hear a person refusing to compromise, a searing vision founded on real risks and the necessity of truth".
[20]
As Mathlouthi explains, the song is dedicated to the "people that have to carry the weight and all the struggles so that a very small percentage can enjoy the power."
[18]
The songs of
Ensen
were then entirely reworked on the remix album
Ensenity
. Nine different producers from different backgrounds were invited to accentuate the electronica side of the tracks.
[21]
Everywhere We Looked Was Burning
(2019)
[
edit
]
In 2019, she released her first all-English album
Everywhere We Looked Was Burning
, she wanted "to write about nature as well as the beauty and struggle of these times".
[22]
She was inspired by the "essential imagery" of US poets such
T.S. Eliot
and
John Ashbury
.
[23]
At that time, she he had been living in the New-York area for a few years.
New York Times
reviewed it saying; "As she sings about a mysterious experience, the sustained, modal melody and stretches of drone harmony hint at North African and Arab underpinnings, while its electric and electronic instruments pulse and hover in virtual space, maintaining the enigma".
[24]
Brooklyn Vegan
wrote that "these really are some of her most breathtaking songs yet".
[23]
Everywhere We Looked Was Burning
was produced in part with
Steve Moore
.
That year, Emel also sang on Moore's
Beloved Exile
EP.
AllMusic
reviewed her performance saying, "opener "Your Sentries Will Be Met with Force" features the enchanting vocals of Tunisian singer Emel Mathlouthi, who adds a sublime new dimension to Moore's glowing, pulsating electronics".
[25]
In 2017 she $returned to Tunisia for her first concert there in five years, headlining the prestigious Carthage Festival. That summer she also performed at the Beitaddine Festival in Lebanon, and the
SummerStage
festival in
Central Park
, New York City.
The Tunis Diaries
(2020?present)
[
edit
]
While being on vacation in her childhood home in Tunis in 2020, she recorded a double album
The Tunis Diaries
on her own, with just an acoustic guitar and her voice.
[26]
She hadn't played on an acoustic guitar in a long time.
[27]
The Tunis Diaries
is split in two parts "Day" and "Night".
[28]
The first disc includes Emel songs revisited sung in part English, and in Tunisian plus an unreleased song "Holm" which has been viewed more than 3.5 million times on YouTube as of January 2021.
[29]
The second disc features several covers of
Leonard Cohen
,
David Bowie
and
Jeff Buckley
.
[29]
While promoting the album in Paris, she recorded a rendition of a
Siouxsie and the Banshees
song as a one-off for French Television.
[30]
In 2021, she released
Everywhere We Looked Was Burning Live
which was a live version of her 2019's album. In September, she collaborated with electronic music producer
Vitalic
for a one-off concert in Paris which took place at
Theatre du Chatelet
: they created together a new music around the poetry of
Ghada Al-Samman
for an event called Variations. The show was filmed for
Culturebox
channel and uploaded on YouTube.
[31]
Her debut album
Kelmti Horra
was released for the first time on vinyl in 2022 to celebrate its 10-year anniversary.
[32]
The reissue which was also out on CD, included bonus tracks.
In 2023, she collaborated with the filmmaker Shirin Neshat for a video titled
the Fury
,
[33]
about "the sexual exploitation of female political prisoners by the Islamic Republic’s regime in Iran". Emel wrote Arabic lyrics for a Persian song that Neshat had selected.
[34]
MRA
(2024)
[
edit
]
In April 2024, she released
MRA
(which means woman), it includes the singles "NAR" and "Souty (My Voice)"
[35]
[36]
She will be on tour worldwide throughout the year.
[37]
Influences
[
edit
]
Mathlouthi lists her early musical influences as
Joan Baez
,
Bob Dylan
,
Marcel Khalife
and
Sheikh Imam
.
[18]
Her other musical influences include
Janis Joplin
,
Sinead O'Connor
,
Led Zeppelin
,
James Blake
,
Roger Waters
and
Fuck Buttons
.
[38]
Style
[
edit
]
Mathlouthi's singular style is a mix of North African sounds and modern electronic production.
Cinema
[
edit
]
Mathlouthi was featured in the 2014 documentary
No Land's Song
by
Ayat Najafi
, in which she becomes the first female to sing as a soloist in Iran since 1979. Her music has been used in the soundtracks of several movies.
Fashion
[
edit
]
Mathlouthi collaborates frequently with top and emerging designers for her stagewear, including Manish Arora,
Jean-Paul Gaultier
and Ahmed Talfit, but most frequently with compatriot
Azzedine Alaia
.
Discography
[
edit
]
- Studio albums
- Remix album
- Contributing artist
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Emel Mathlouthi"
. tv5monde.com
. Retrieved
13 January
2016
.
.
- ^
"1e edition du Prix RMC Moyen-Orient Musique"
(in French). RFI Musique. 16 June 2006. Archived from the original on 29 July 2013
. Retrieved
30 July
2012
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link
)
- ^
Westall, Sylvia (4 July 2012).
"Voice of Tunisian spring calls for justice, equality"
.
Reuters
. Retrieved
30 July
2012
.
- ^
"A Song for Bouazizi by Emel Mathlouthi"
.
France 24
(in Arabic). 18 January 2011
. Retrieved
30 July
2012
.
- ^
Daniel Gumbiner (2012).
Now That We Have Tasted Hope: Voices from the Arab Spring
. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. p. 22.
ISBN
1614520208
.
- ^
Mathlouthi, Amel.
"My word is Free, English Subtitled (Tunisian revolution)"
.
youtube.com
.
- ^
"Emel Mathlouthi, le jasmin et la voix"
.
Mars Actu
(in French). 20 July 2012. Archived from
the original
on 3 April 2012
. Retrieved
30 March
2012
.
- ^
Tsioulcas, Anastasia (8 November 2018).
"Emel Mathlouthi Is The 21st Century's Catalyst For Change"
.
NPR
. Retrieved
30 March
2024
.
- ^
Pelly, Jenn (14 September 2016).
"Why the World Needs Emel Mathlouthi's Anthems"
.
Pitchfork
. Retrieved
30 March
2024
.
- ^
"Emel Mathlouthi: Voice Of The Tunisian Revolution"
.
NPR.org
. Retrieved
30 August
2017
.
- ^
Spencer, Neil (19 February 2012).
"Emel Mathlouthi: Kelmti Horra ? review"
. Retrieved
20 January
2015
.
- ^
Varty, Alexander (12 July 2012).
"Vancouver Folk Music Festival performers use music to make a difference"
.
Vanvouver Free Press
. Archived from
the original
on 14 July 2012
. Retrieved
30 July
2012
.
- ^
Westall, Sylvia (11 July 2012).
"After Saddam and war, Iraq's musicians look to home"
.
Reuters
. Retrieved
30 July
2012
.
- ^
Crooijmans, Charlie.
"
"In France I found my Tunisian identity"- an interview with Emel Mathlouthi"
. NewsAndNoise.Wordpress.com (self-publicised). Archived from
the original
on 9 August 2012
. Retrieved
9 November
2012
.
- ^
"Emel Mathlouthi | Festival International Nuits d'Afrique de Montreal"
.
festivalnuitsdafrique.com
. Archived from
the original
on 30 August 2017
. Retrieved
30 August
2017
.
- ^
Hudson, Alex (9 May 2014).
"Tricky '54U' EP"
. exclaim.ca
. Retrieved
20 January
2015
.
- ^
Gaworecki, Mike (22 February 2017).
"On 'Ensen', Emel Creates Revolutionary Hybrid Sounds"
.
Brooklyn Magazine
. Retrieved
30 August
2017
.
- ^
a
b
c
Pelly, Jenn (14 September 2016).
"Why the World Needs Emel Mathlouthi's Anthems Against the Dictatorship Machine"
. Pitchfork.
- ^
"Store | Partisan Records"
.
shop.partisanrecords.com
. Archived from
the original
on 20 December 2016
. Retrieved
5 December
2016
.
- ^
Pelly, Jenn (16 February 2016).
"Emel Mathlouthi "Ensen Dhaif"
"
. Pitchfork
. Retrieved
5 December
2016
.
- ^
"Emel Mathlouthi reexplore son album Ensen"
. musikplease.com. 2 March 2018
. Retrieved
5 December
2016
.
- ^
"Emel Mathlouthi Announces New Album, Shares Video for New Song: Watch"
. Pitchfork. 20 June 2019
. Retrieved
20 June
2020
.
- ^
a
b
Sacher, Andrew (27 September 2019).
"Notable Releases of the Week (9/27) Emel Mathlouthi
Everywhere We Looked Was Burning
"
. brooklynvegan.com
. Retrieved
20 June
2020
.
- ^
Pareles, Jon (12 September 2019).
"Pop and Jazz Albums Coming This Fall ? Emel Mathlouthi
Everywhere We Looked Was Burning
review"
. Newyorktimes.com
. Retrieved
20 June
2020
.
- ^
Simpson, Paul.
"Steve Moore
Beloved Exile
review"
. AllMusic
. Retrieved
20 June
2020
.
- ^
"Emel: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert"
. npr.org. 17 January 2021
. Retrieved
23 January
2021
.
- ^
"Emel : "Je cherche le silence dans ma voix"
"
. Franceculture. 19 October 2020
. Retrieved
23 January
2021
.
- ^
"Emel Mathlouthi Announces Double Album"
. pitchfork.com. 9 September 2020
. Retrieved
23 January
2021
.
- ^
a
b
"La Tunisie, toit du monde de la chanteuse Emel Mathlouthi"
. Marianne.net. 26 January 2021
. Retrieved
26 January
2021
.
- ^
"Emel ? Rhapsody (Siouxsie and the Banshees cover) dans la collection Reprise"
. France.tv ? La Blogotheque on YouTube. 23 December 2020
. Retrieved
4 January
2022
.
- ^
"Variations #6 : Vitalic & Emel Play Ghada Al-Samman (Live in Paris' Theatre du Chatelet 30 September 2021)"
. YouTube. 30 September 2021
. Retrieved
29 November
2021
.
- ^
"
Kelmti Horra
10 year Anniversary ? Emel ? Vinyl + CD"
. Emel official. Archived from the original on 29 September 2022
. Retrieved
22 June
2022
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link
)
- ^
Banks, Nargess (26 October 2023).
"Shirin Neshat's
The Fury
Is A Powerful, Politically Charged Artwork"
.
Forbes
. Retrieved
4 January
2024
.
- ^
Garcia, Sandra E. (20 April 2023).
"For Two Artists in Separate Fields, a Shared Desire to Be More Than One Thing"
.
New York Times
. Retrieved
4 January
2024
.
- ^
Adriane Pontecorvo (23 April 2024).
"Emel Keeps her electropop revolton strong on
MRA
"
.
PopMatters
. Retrieved
2 May
2024
.
.
- ^
"Emel Mathlouthi's
MRA
: A Rallying Cry for Female Empowerment
MRA
"
.
Cairoscene.com
. 22 April 2024
. Retrieved
2 May
2024
.
.
- ^
"Emel - tour"
.
Emel
.
.
- ^
Olbrich, Suze (24 February 2017).
"Emel Mathlouthi: 'It's important to be out there as a creative woman from a Muslim culture'
"
.
The Guardian
.
- ^
Neil Spencer,
"Emel Mathlouthi: Kelmti Horra ? review"
,
The Observer
, 19 February 2012.
External links
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