Morcheeba/ Dhafer Youssef

Morcheeba With its gentle and introspective songs diffused by the voice of Skye Edwards, Morcheeba embodies a peaceful line of British trip-hop, with rare longevity. It all began with a fortuitous encounter during an evening in London, 30 years ago. Ross Godfrey, then an 18-year-old multi-instrumentalist from Kent, heard about Skye Edwards, a young singer-songwriter from East London. He invited her to his home to sing, and she arrived with her guitar and gently sang a song. They immediately became friends. And Morcheeba was born. The pioneer of an accessible form of electronic music with a strong female voice, and a cousin of other British trip-hop bands of the 1990s such as Massive Attack and Portishead, to date the group has produced 10 studio albums and sold more than 10 million records. At the request of Chaka Khan, Morcheeba was also one of the headline acts in the Meltdown Festival in 2023. Dhafer Youssef “Shiraz” Dhafer Youssef, a Tunisian master of the oud and singer, is widely regarded as one of the most distinctive musical voices of our time; his art transcends borders, languages and genres. He has always had a very clear vision of what his music should sound like: rooted in the traditions of Arabic music and Sufism, whilst remaining open to contemporary sounds from a wide variety of genres: jazz, chamber music, rock or even electronic music. ‘Shiraz’ is an intimate album; the story it tells is undoubtedly the most personal of his entire career. It is a love ode to his wife, the Tunisian filmmaker and director Shiraz Fradi, which evokes their relationship and the turbulent, sometimes bittersweet, journey of their life together. The album was recorded with pianist Daniel García, trumpeter Mario Rom, bassist Swaéli Mbappé, drummer Tao Ehrlich and guest guitarist Nguyên Lê