Talented Arab Alert (TAA!): Salem Al Fakir
From the land that brought us Lingonberry sauce and Robyn (whose career is soaring again) comes Salem Al Fakir, the half-Syrian half-Swedish singing sensation. With his improvisational piano skills and his crackly, soulful, accented, slightly odd voice, he sounds like a cross between Stevie Wonder and a Scandinavian homeless drunk. His gigantic family has single-handedly adjusted the declining Swedish birth-rate: his siblings are Aminah, Ayman, Nassim, Salem, Sami and Fares (and they all have myspace, and they all play instruments, and they’re all lookers!). Salem’s fine, curly hair and stage theatrics are both out of control but always make the Swedish girls crazy with lust. At the recent Swedish Music Awards, Salem garnered 7 nominations, and won four awards (including best male artist, best composer, and best producer). Salem has also collaborated with Robyn on some tracks. It’s a travesty of aural pleasure that his music is not available on iTunes! The song I’ve included here, “It’s True”, departs from my usual taste, but grew and grew on me till I was smitten. You may have also heard it rearranged by Axwell, the house producer, at a club. It has one of those hooks that makes you wanna spin around forever, holding your beloved’s hands, in a field of daisies.
Thanks to my friend Julian for introducing me to something I should have known about.
Salem Al Fakir’s myspace: http://www.myspace.com/salemalfakir
The new Robyn (remember “Show Me Love”?):
“With Every Heartbeat”:http://youtube.com/watch?v=VB9vqCIviMk
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx4CiOUqWuc]
