I loved “Run For Cover,” the previous single from Mostafa Al’s Sheykh Forever, and I love this new one, and mainly for the same reasons – things like originality, freshness, eclecticism, groove, and a feeling of sonic adventurousness, which is as brilliant as it is beautiful.
“Sleeping Dogs” might, like the aforementioned single, deal with darker, anti-war sentiments, but it doesn’t allow such a message to make the song musically maudlin. Quite the opposite. In fact, the brilliance of this song is its ability to carry a powerful message via fun and infectious music, a duality that more music-makers should consider.
Soulful guitars chop and chime, danceable beats and buoyant, funky basslines drive things along, sweet sonic washes lightly coat the spaces in between, and vocals from emotive solo deliveries to more tightly woven harmonic arrays add a gloriously vibrant final coat.
Never has a song with such a poignant message been this much fun; Sheykh Forever once again proves that you can make engaging and addictive music whilst saying something important; that pop music, and I mean that in the broadest sense of the term, doesn’t have to be the throwaway or lowest common denominator form that it is in danger of becoming. That important messaging doesn’t have to be wrapped in gloom and despair.
There is an art to making difficult and necessary points engaging, and this is how you do it. Come for the funky dance grooves. Stay for the talking points!
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