No matter how many times it’s been said, it’s still worth repeating: living… Read Full Bio ↴No matter how many times it’s been said, it’s still worth repeating: living in discombobulated Cairo is paradoxical and overwhelming. You love it. You hate it. The metropolis chews you up and spends you, yet when it spits you out it has sculpted you into a stronger person. Local band Digla’s diatribe and ode to coming-of-age, loving and living by the Nile is mature beyond the collective age of the band’s members. Their polished and shiny snapshots contrast perfectly with the grit of the city, and in them you won’t be sharing misery– Digla deals with despair by rejoicing on their debut album, Free Your Mind.
Consumed by failed relationships and living at odds with the city, the band’s strongest urge is to get through and be fully understood. ’All to Lose‘ begins with a story and ends with a speech, and just to make sure the message gets delivered, the title track daintily chants the album’s mantra ‘Life is too short/ You got no time/Reconcile and free your mind.’ All these sentiments are summed up brilliantly on the track 'Highlights' with folksy ease. Wistfully humming ‘Ya leily ya leil’ between his poetic images, lead singer and songwriter Tarek El Borollossy wins you over effortlessly.
Recorded in 2006, Free Your Mind is a representation of the band’s essence as opposed to its sound. The band was formed back in 2001 by El Borollossy and Omar Raafat, and they recorded Free Your Mind with the aid of session musicians and friends. Today, two other members complete the outfit.
Free Your Mind has some rich arrangements and benefits from great production value; the songs sound extremely crisp coming out of your stereo. However, the songwriting stands out the most. With the imagination of a surrealist and the raptness of a storyteller, Digla crafts songs that, in their own words, ‘point out things you've only seen before’.
Digla is an excellent band on Egyptian standards, but unfortunately, Free Your Mind doesn’t rise above this barometer. It’s a good record that deservers your time, but mostly due to the friends and enemies that you share. That being said; Digla may not be so far off from giving us an album that stands on its own on international standards. They most definitely have the talent and the ambition, they just need to come into their own.
Consumed by failed relationships and living at odds with the city, the band’s strongest urge is to get through and be fully understood. ’All to Lose‘ begins with a story and ends with a speech, and just to make sure the message gets delivered, the title track daintily chants the album’s mantra ‘Life is too short/ You got no time/Reconcile and free your mind.’ All these sentiments are summed up brilliantly on the track 'Highlights' with folksy ease. Wistfully humming ‘Ya leily ya leil’ between his poetic images, lead singer and songwriter Tarek El Borollossy wins you over effortlessly.
Recorded in 2006, Free Your Mind is a representation of the band’s essence as opposed to its sound. The band was formed back in 2001 by El Borollossy and Omar Raafat, and they recorded Free Your Mind with the aid of session musicians and friends. Today, two other members complete the outfit.
Free Your Mind has some rich arrangements and benefits from great production value; the songs sound extremely crisp coming out of your stereo. However, the songwriting stands out the most. With the imagination of a surrealist and the raptness of a storyteller, Digla crafts songs that, in their own words, ‘point out things you've only seen before’.
Digla is an excellent band on Egyptian standards, but unfortunately, Free Your Mind doesn’t rise above this barometer. It’s a good record that deservers your time, but mostly due to the friends and enemies that you share. That being said; Digla may not be so far off from giving us an album that stands on its own on international standards. They most definitely have the talent and the ambition, they just need to come into their own.
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Free Your Mind
Digla Lyrics
Highlights You ask me why this moment feels familiar. I say we"ve…
Scattered Rain I've seen a man tee off the moon and yet…