Ya Khi Isaal (Why Don’t You Ask?) is the title of Assalah’s latest album, which consists of eight beautiful Khaliji (Gulf) songs, according to thisiscyberia.com.
Assalah is known for being a highly emotional singer. Her silky, multi-layered voice enables her to improvise and sustains her individuality and reputation as one of the leading Arabic singers today.
Having started as a child prodigy singing her father’s compositions, Assalah soon shifted to Tarab. Some of Egypt’s top composers adopted her talent and presented her with their best music. Ya Sabra Yana by Sayyed Mikkawi, Hat Albi by Mohammed Al Mouji and the mega hit Samehtak Kteer by Mohammed Sultan are but a few among many.
Though Assalah never lost the spirit of Tarab, she later experimented with more modern tunes too. After her first hit collaboration with Prince Abdel Rahman Bin Mossaed on Rahal, Ya Khi Issaal is her second all-Khaliji album.
The album’s title song, Ya Khi Issaal, especially shows her talent, as she continuously creates variations on the melody (arabesques), while her voice perfectly hits high and low quarter notes.
The song is about calling upon your lover to show some love and affection.
Another highlight on the album is Samihna (Forgive Us), which has a wonderful duality between nostalgia and happiness, as it is a song asking for forgiveness, yet set to very light tune.
To illustrate Assalah’s rising star once more: she was the first Arab singer ever to record a song with a full symphonic orchestra of 120 musicians in Paris. The song was called Saedni from the Yamin Allah album.
Despite just having issued a brand new album, Assalah is already planning for the future. During an MBC TV-show aired on July 3, she announced she would be working with Lebanese composers Samir Sfeir and Ziad Boutros - brother of singer Julia - on her next album, which is supposed to be out in September. Unlike Ya Khi Issaal, this will not be Khaliji (Gulf) tunes, but an all-Arab album – Albawaba.com
