Faten Kanaan releases the hypnotic ‘Sidequest’ on Fire Records on 25th March.
The composer creates an alchemy of past and future in a metallically-minimalist opus. Having previously been compared to Eleni Karaindrou and Philip Glass, the mystery of Faten Kanaan continues. Her music creates its own world – one that isn’t easily categorised.
Mastered by Heba Kadry, ‘Sidequest’ follows suit; it’s a multi-layered epic that embraces her Arab roots, adding luscious swathes of strings with an atmospheric grandeur that overflows into itself creating a Terry Riley-like mantra for modern times.
Faten: “It’s rare for me to work with beats, but I wanted to make a (semi) dance-able track that felt like triumphantly-clanking armour… Inspired by the 12th century, and Adamski x Seal’s track ‘Killer’. A literal sidequest- it’s a one-off track that’s unrelated to any future releases.”
Her previous two albums on Fire, ‘A Mythology Of Circles’ (2020) and ‘Afterpoem’ (2023) received many plaudits:
“The music has a real intimacy and warmth.” The Quietus
“Irresistibly otherworldly.” Uncut
“Thrilling and wholly original.” AllMusic
