Deb (Heart Broken) [Canada]

1	Ya Kelbi (Oh! My Heart) 4:21
2	Ghir Enta (I Only Love You) 5:07
3	Ech Edani (I Shouldn't Have Fallen in Love With You) 4:47
4	Yemma (Mummy, I Lie to You) 5:10
5	Yawlidi (My Little Boy) 3:24
6	Le Bien et le Mal (Good and Evil) 2:55
7	Houria (Freedom) 3:11
8	Deb (Heart Broken) 5:04
9	Moudja (The Wave) 3:28
10	Passe le Temps (As Time Goes By) 2:43
11	Theghri (I Send an S.O.S.) 4:07
12	Bel el Madhi (The Gate of the Past) 5:10

Barnes & Noble

Not every iconoclastic artist translates into the liberal world of Western pop -- but it's easy to hear what makes Souad Massi special. You don't have to know anything about the repressive conditions of her native Algeria or the riskiness of a woman stating her thoughts, alone with a guitar, in the male-dominated Muslim world. You don't need to appreciate the radical dislocations of the North African immigrant in cold, distant, Paris. Even a familiarity with flamenco, chaabi, or the Arabic classical styles that inform Deb is unnecessary. Massi's magic is worked with her carefully ornamented voice, singing in Arabic, French, and occasionally English, over the spare backing of acoustic guitar and percussion. Deb, follow-up to the album Raoui, which gained her a devoted following in Europe, is a rich mélange of styles: American folk rock, Spanish rumba, Algerian pop (or chaabi), and a bit of French chanson. A perfectly balanced, cosmopolitan listen, Deb is as likely to find Massi backed by a string section as an African djembe drum. Lyrically, the album lives up to its title, painting vignettes of loss and regret, from the straightforward "Ech Edani" (I Shouldn't Have Fallen in Love with You) to the nuanced "Yemma" (Mummy, I Lie to You), where the immigrant confesses the truth about a world in which she's cold, lonely, broke, and abused in the streets of a city far from home. Even without the benefit of lyric translations, Massi's music connects instantly -- seldom does one encounter an artist who is as truly universal. Mark Schwartz

All Music Guide

The sophomore album from the "Arabic Tracy Chapman." While that would imply a deep folk-guitar base for her music, that's really not the case. What the album is made of is an extremely eclectic mix of sounds. The base for it all is in Algerian and Andalusian musics, with rai, flamenco and Arab classical music being the main keystones. On top of that, though, is layer after layer of other genres. Western folk is certainly one of the top factors in some of those, as well as hints of Western classical music in the backing violins and cellos that show up from time to time. East African jive and West African juju both seem to make appearances for a time, and hints of tabla from the subcontinent also creep in when you're not paying attention. The main highlight of the album isn't so much the eclecticism though, as it is Massi's abilities in songwriting, singing, and on the guitar. Her voice projects the proper emotion for powerful flamenco vocal runs, and soft French songs alike. Equally versatile, her guitar can make flamenco solos and folk-rock runs easily, along with more careful ballad picking. It's a very versatile album, with some top-notch musicianship from Massi, as well as some top-notch songwriting. Pick it up for a nice relaxed listen. Adam Greenberg