Get the latest gossip
Mustafa: Dunya review – poet’s songwriting is a little too beautiful for its own good
The multitalented Canadian renders his subtle songs in tasteful autumnal shades – but could have benefitted from more head-turning numbers such as Gaza Is Calling
As well as Blake, When Smoke Rises featured Jamie xx; here, the roster of producers includes the National’s Aaron Dessner, songwriter Clairo and acclaimed electronic auteur Nicolas Jaar, who has previously collaborated with Brian Eno and FKA twigs; Swedish singer-songwriter Snoh Aalegra and Rosalía muck in with backing vocals, their contributions buried so deep in the mix they barely register. For a former performance poet relating grim stories from Toronto’s housing projects, he’s got an impressively light, even oblique, touch, focusing on hazy memories and telling details: “You’ve been on the phone for far too long / Either someone’s coming back or someone is gone,” he sings on Beauty, End. That said, the world of gentle acoustic pop that bears comparison to Sheeran – the kind of music that can slip on to Radio 2, playlists called things like Unplugged Chill and into backgrounds of TikTok videos with equal ease – isn’t exactly overburdened with Black Muslim voices singing about housing projects or their relationship with God.
Or read this on The Guardian