داكنْ Dakn - 'Linebreak'

The album this is from is probably my favorite of the past year. It made me cry when I first heard it. I know Dakn, actually. I met him in Ramallah in Palestine, when I was there in the fall of 2019. We hung out a bunch. Something that's described on his Bandcamp page is that the album is "nine tracks evoking different parts of a body in post trauma," and this feels like such a generous offering he's giving us. Generous, yet focused. This track in particular was one that resonated very physically with me. I would play it over and over again.

tQ: I was kind of taken aback by how affected I was by it, which is rare, I think. There's a wealth of stuff coming out of the broader Levant region that is really unbelievable. That cultural moment that's happening feels important.

Yeah, you've got several different streaming and radio things popping up over the last few years like Ma3azef, Alhara, so you have all these great artists, and there’s a lot of music from the region available on Bandcamp. But there's a problem with Bandcamp, too, because they use PayPal. So, a lot of Palestinian artists can't put their work up on Bandcamp, because they can't access PayPal, which is ridiculous. People should know.

But generally, yeah, that region just feels full of energy and music right now. I feel you on that, for sure. It's sort of an aside, but Dakn also raps and makes tracks with breaks and stuff. There's definitely a range of music coming from him, and I'm really excited about that, too. The stuff that I had been more familiar with before was all that. Then, he sent this album, and I'm like, "Oh my god." So much love for that guy and for his music.