Bab L’ Bluz nominated for Songlines Music Award

Moroccan-French power quartet Bab L’ Bluz, who released their debut album Nayda! last summer, to critical acclaim, have been nominated for a prestigious Songlines Music Award.

Nayda! is nominated in the Fusion category, alongside three other albums by DakhaBrakha, Wu Fei & Abigail Washburn and Lo’Jo.

At the time of its release Songlines five star review called the Nayda! album “fearlessly rebellious music” and it was one of their Best Albums of 2020.

The winners will be announced in the June 2021 issue (out 14 May).

The Songlines Music Awards include albums that have been reviewed over the last year, from the March 2020 issue through to the January/February 2021 issue. The nominees in this category have been voted for by Songlines contributors.

Songlines Music Awards 2021 - The Nominees

Featured Release

  • Nayda!

    Bab L’ Bluz

    Released 05 June 2020

    Moroccan-French power quartet, Bab L’ Bluz, reclaim the blues for North Africa. Fronted by an African-Moroccan woman in a traditionally male role, Bab L’ Bluz are devoted to a revolution in attitude which dovetails with Morocco’s ‘nayda’ youth movement – a new wave of artists and musicians taking their cues from local heritage, singing words of freedom in the Moroccan-Arabic dialect of darija.

By Online Editor

Main image: Yousra Mansour and Brice Bottin from the band Bab L' Bluz. Photo credit: Chaimae Aichouri.

Published on Fri, 09 April 21

Further reading

Bab L’ Bluz – Bangoro (Gitkin Remix) released

'Bangoro' is a track taken from Bab L' Bluz's critically-acclaimed second album Swaken.

Ríoghnach Connolly wins RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Award

Ríoghnach Connolly of The Breath wins Best Folk Singer at the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards, 2025.

Track of the day: ‘AmmA’ by Bab L’ Bluz

'AmmA' draws on music from north-east Morocco and influences from Tunisia and Algeria.

Track of the day: ‘Too Many Have Gone’ by The Breath

The Breath reveal their first new music since the release of their third album, Land of My Other. A...