Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood and Israeli musician Dudu Tassa have joined forces to create the new album ‘Jarak Qaribak’.
Slated for release on June 9th via World Circuit, the LP is co-produced by Greenwood and Tassa, with mixing duties handled by Radiohead collaborator Nigel Godrich.
To celebrate the announcement, the two have also released the lead single ‘Ashufak Shay’, featuring Lebanese vocalist Rashid Al Najjar. Speaking about the project, Tassa said: “When people listen to this music, I really love to imagine them thinking…what is this? It sounds 1970s, but there are drum machines, there are guitars but they’re singing in Arabic…what’s going on?”
Greenwood commented: “We didn’t want to make out that we’re making any political point, but I do understand that as soon as you do anything in that part of the world it becomes political, even if it’s just artistic, possibly especially if it’s artistic.”
Tassa added: “Israel is a small country between all those countries, so we’re very influenced by those cultures and by that music. And a lot of us in Israel—like my family—are descended from people who came here from elsewhere in the Middle East, so everything gets mixed up.”
