Acclaim for Al Wahem, the latest album by Lebanese/Swiss electronic duo PRAED, released by Ruptured & Annihaya in March 2026:
“Opening title “Al Wahem” track sets the tone, 19 minutes of intense but groovy shaabi rhythms strafed by Conca’s snaking clarinet and guest vocals from Mayssa Jallad. With its insistent rhythms and glimmering sea sprays of synth, ‘Al Maraya’ is reminiscent of the ecstatic peaks of late period drum circle Boredoms, while the closing ‘Assarab’ seems designed to prove a live band can summon up the sort of intense energy of electro-shaabi musicians like Islam Chipsy. A wild, ecstatic listen from start to close.” – Louis Pattison, The Wire
“There’s a solid equation at play, weaving together electronic, jazz, and Egyptian shaabi threads into a shifting, imaginative sound—one that delights the ear with its hallucinatory nature and layered ornamentation. The blend of jazz and shaabi brings to mind the work of Salah Ragab, though Al Wahem feels richer and more expansive in its instrumental distribution, rhythmic structures, and modal transitions, culminating in the closing track “Al Sarab”, notable for its rhythmic framework, keyboard solo, and dense sonic textures.” – Rami Abadir, Ma3azef https://bit.ly/48G79Pd
“The strings are strong, but sit just below the synths on the equality meter, with underlaid drones frequently occupying the frequencies desired. ‘Al Maraya’ offers circular-breathing clarinet spirals for full ascendance, with other reed-layers stoking up a repeated theme over a massively rattling percussion wall. Sounding just as much Egyptian as Lebanese, this is cross-currented fusion at its most uncompromising.” – Martin Longley, Songlines 4/5 https://www.songlines.co.uk/review/al-wahem
“Performing in a style comparable to Egyptian shaabi music, which in itself borrows heavily from underground street culture, the pairing of Paed Conca and Raed Yassin leads to some entrancing dance music, relentless in its groove and constantly mutating over the course of the album.” – Reuben Cross, FarOut Magazine https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/six-great-albums-you-may-have-missed-from-march-2026/
“Al Wahem feels like a direct development of their orchestra music, where the duo have expanded not only their musical palette but also increased their personnel.” – Cyclic Defrost
PRAED share their creative process with 15 Questions: https://15questions.net/interview/praed-share-their-creative-process/page-1/
“There is always movement, even when it resists clear direction. The pull is immediate, sometimes disorienting, often physical. Al Wahem channels a popular form with care, while pushing it somewhere more volatile, more open-ended.” – Kristoffer Cornils, Musikexpress
“Sounds from North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean meet colder, urban textures, while traces of belly dance motion fold into motorik repetition. This is music where distances collapse. Different vocabularies coexist without hierarchy, sharing space, altering each other as they move.” – Massimiliano Busti, Blow Up
“PRAED isn’t interested in showiness, nor in complexity as a badge of intelligence. The duo knows exactly what to do with its materials and, just as importantly, what not to do with them. No grandstanding. No decorative folklore. No avant-garde posturing. Just music that moves forward with intent, that uses repetition as a tool for shifting ground, and that manages to make what once felt stable seem strange. That may be its greatest strength: to make a language that feels immediately physical, yet can’t be exhausted in a single listen.” – Solenopole https://solenopole.com/chronique/praed-al-wahem/
“The more compact format imbues the music with an unexpected sense of propulsion and dynamism as a swaying motorik starts pushing along melodic loops and synth stabs into delirious cuts. The whole work is so coherent and functions so well that it feels a sin to pick it apart.” – Research Music
“PRAED confirm their ambition and vision with a hypnotic album that blurs the line between acoustic and electronic sounds through a relentless juxtaposition of elements: “Al Wahem” deludes, fascinates, and demands you lose yourself within it.” – Piergiuseppe Lippolis, Music Map https://www.musicmap.it/recdischi/ordinaperr.asp?id=12495
Al Wahem reviewed in Felt Hat: https://felthatreviews.blogspot.com/2026/02/al-wahem-by-praed.html
Al Wahem reviewed in African Paper: https://africanpaper.com/2026/02/16/al-wahem-kollaboratives-album-von-praed/
“It’s psychedelic, swirling, extremely rhythmic, a free jazz of Lebanese & Egyptian music… As always this music is full of joy and yearning, and never-ending forward motion.” – Peter Hollo, Utility Fog broadcast
Al Wahem on BBC3’s Late Junction: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002sdh3
Pangea with Alarico Mantovani on Fango Radio: https://www.mixcloud.com/alarico-mantovani/pangea-287/
Adventures In Sound And Music with Phil England on Resonance FM: https://www.thewire.co.uk/audio/on-air/phil-england-presents-adventures-in-sound-and-music-77038
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