Emel’s ‘The Tunis Diaries’ has once again provided us with another example of quarantine creativity. The end result is raw, passionate, and hauntingly beautiful.
Rating: 3.5/5
The origins
When the pandemic hit, the New York-based Tunisian singer-songwriter Emel Mathlouthi found herself quarantined in the town of her childhood; Tunis. Armed with a crowdsourced classical guitar, laptop, and tape recorder, Emel produced a stripped-back rework of previous projects “Day” and “Night”. Emel’s ‘The Tunis Diaries’ is ultimately a back to basics exploration of her roots and relationship with her homeland.
Messages
It follows her acclaimed album “Everywhere We Looked Was Burning”. This was described by the National Public Radio, an American media organisation, as, “the 21st-century catalyst for change”. The album’s title track is reworked in ‘The Tunis Diaries’, and is a standout track. The deep and meaningful lyrics pair perfectly with the simplicity of the guitar. For example, she sings of climate change and environmental issues. The lyric “the hours are getting late” is repeated throughout creating a sense of despair and referring to the lessening amount of time there before the planet goes past the point of no return from climate change.
Tone
Emel’s voice is elegant and beautiful but also haunting. She seems to sound both longing and at peace; this tone is consistent throughout the album. The guitar complements this, providing a rich, atmospheric quality that undeniably matches the soul in her voice.
Theme
Due to the nature of the production of ‘The Tunis Diaries’, Emel had limited resources. However, this has proven to be a great strength of the album. Without a drumbeat; bass; synths and backing singers, the listener is left with the rich, melodic quality of Emel’s voice. She utilises this through the use of layering her voice across several tracks. This produces an angelic, almost holy tone.
Structure
The album is split into two parts: the first is sung mainly in Arabic, the main language spoken in Tunis. This is a rework of her own songs and looks at her own personal relationship with her hometown. The first side feels intensely personal and almost intrusive. It is rather like an insight into her mind and thoughts, yet it is also welcoming as if she is addressing her listeners.
The second part of the album is Emel’s own interpretation of covers by alternative musicians ranging from Nirvana to Bowie; The Cranberries to Buckley. Perhaps the most striking interpretation is ‘Every You, Every Me’, a moody, charismatic cover of the 1998 hit by alternative rock icons Placebo. Emel loses the punk-y and energetic riffs of the original and creates something much darker although much slower.
Final thoughts
While Emel has created her own interpretation of iconic covers and her voice is undoubtedly beautiful, the album feels somewhat repetitive. Each track is remarkably similar, and it is easy to lose track of what song is playing. I found that I got lost in the middle and, surprisingly, bored. It is, for this reason, I rated Emel’s ‘The Tunis Diaries’ 3.5 out of 5. It is undeniable that Emel’s vocal talent is incredible and her lyrics are poignant. However, the album feels heavy and sluggish at times, making it hard to become fully immersed in her sound.
Songs that stood out:
“Everywhere We Looked Was Burning”, “Every You, Every Me
‘The Tunis Diaries’ will be released on October 23 via Partisan Records.