If there’s one thing Emel Mathlouthi has mastered, it’s the art of staging a performance worthy of a tragedy. Accompanied by her two musicians, on drums and keyboards, Emel Mathlouthi, known as “the voice of the revolution,” made a spectacular entrance on stage, adding lighting effects and appearing like a goddess on top of her throne. Wearing a sophisticated crown and an antique-style white dress from the 15th century, the Tunisian artist presented her most recent album, MRA, which means woman in Arabic, released in 2024 and produced entirely by a team of women.
Always with a screen behind her, her voice is rarely in its natural state. She uses a lot of reverb and plays with her microphone, adding an enigmatic effect to her universe in which trap, hip-hop, and drum ‘n’ bass cohabit harmoniously. Emel really gets into her character and lets herself go, inserting saccadic dance movements on several tracks. She taps her drum at times, complementing the work of her drummer and adding to the danceable effect.
At the end of the third song, the audience starts dancing, contrasting the solemn style of the first two tracks. Emel also adds pre-recorded sounds that merge with the looped images, a true sensory cocktail. Most of her songs are in Arabic, but she also sings in English, a language she mastered, and French. She switches from one to the other when addressing the audience.
Unfortunately, Naya Ali, who was due to perform, was unable to attend after all. That said, one of the highlights of the concert was when artist Narcy took to the stage for the track Yemenade. And that’s when the evening took a turn for the better, as his energy was felt throughout the room. He managed to get us singing, dancing, all in one song, while Emel danced behind him, banging her golden drum.
The other artist I was looking forward to seeing again was Ziya Tabassian. Also performing on four tracks, he added a traditional Middle Eastern touch to the show. He was perfectly attuned to the drummer’s rhythms, with whom he exchanged glances.
“I hope you like crazy percussion like we do! We don’t know how it sounds from your end, but we like it,” she says between songs. “I can’t seem to make soft songs, I can’t help it,” she confides.
During the song “Souty,” which means “My voice”, she scrolls through sheets on which it is written “My voice is time less like the wind” among other words, as if these were the lyrics of the song. She also takes the opportunity to mention the names of prisoners on some of the sheets.
Emel took the time to share a message from a Palestinian activist who wrote to her to give her the state of play. Indeed, Palestine was the backdrop throughout the show, including during the opening set by Checkpoint 303, a DJ duo who set the table for Emel’s performance. My favourite song is “Mazel,” which means Again, and speaks of the hope she still carries within her, and the new tomorrow she intends to build. In the background, we could see the faces of activist women from all over the world.
She finished with “Rise,” involving the audience on the chorus, before giving us an audience-pleasing encore. I was expecting to see a packed National, but that wasn’t the case. But one thing’s for sure: the people who were there went home satisfied with their evening.
Photo Credit: Ola Choukair
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