Fleuves de l'ame

"Although the album's roots are in traditional Tunisian templates, rhythms, and scales, the eight often extensive tracks (all named after major rivers, which is only appropriate - this music really does flow) glide effortlessly between remote corners of the musical world, with minimalist modern classical, ambient soundscapes, electronica, and even free jazz adding to the compelling list of primary ingredients. They also offer startling yet seamless mood swings: some tracks emerge with unhurried, graceful calm, only to become gradually submerged in tension and decibels. Carried by strings, violin, bouzouki and keyboards, the subtly epic shapeshifting likes of "Envol de Mekong" (which starts off disarmingly pretty and ends up in an outbreak of grizzly noise not that far removed from drone lords ala Sunn O))) are built on instantly memorable melodies, with subtle mutations of the natural sound of the instruments generated by Dreijer's sound design adding a layer of ultra-modernity, edge and unpredictability to the proceedings".

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"Modernity and trad folk intermesh on Tunisian percussionist's swirling debut ... Fleuves De L'Âme finds percussionist, composer and academic Houeida Hedfi putting her discrete spin on the spiritual trance of stambeli. Melodically rich highlights such as Souffles De Nil, Appel Du Danube and the three-movement Envol Du Mekong (...) rest heavily on Jalal Nader's resonant bouzouki refrains and Radhi Chaouali's lucid strings, as contrapuntal pianos and fragmented vocals add generous hints of menace ... A beguiling outing, cinematic in scope and ambition".

"Fleuves De l'Âme creates a different kind of trance music, one where the meditative mood is created tonally rather than rhythmically. Hedfi still plays a variety of percussion instruments, but the rhythms tend to be muted; sometimes she plays tuned percussion like glockenspiels; more often she is playing soft chords on the piano. The album is refracted through the lens of club culture - not only is it produced by [The Knife's Olof] Dreijer but it is being released on the record label owned by Erol Alkan, [the London remixer, producer and DJ]. Yet this is not one of those clubby worldbeat albums that plasters breakbeats and electronic bleeps over traditional music. Instead the electronics are more subtly embedded in the music from the start ... This is chamber music taken into a different dimension".