Emerging Sudanese star Sulaf signs to Real World, releases ‘Naada’

“I gathered my belongings into a small bag, not shedding many tears as no one expected what would happen. No one foresaw all this separation …”

Sulaf was only meant to be gone a minute.

When she left Sudan for France in 2022, taking only essentials including her instruments — her glorious melismatic vocals and resonant six-string wooden oud — she was simply setting off on a creative adventure. In Paris, at the Cité Internationale des Arts — the city’s famed artists’ residence — she would explore her potential and meet like-minded musicians. Then she would return home.

“I was not planning to stay, so I was not prepared for this exile,” says the Saudi-born Sulaf, whose solo debut ABA moves through a panoply of emotions — from anguish and longing to spiritual radiance and fizzing, joyous release — while showcasing an ancient-to-future sound conjured in collaboration with French producer and instrumentalist Maxime Kosinetz.

Sulaf appears as a featured guest vocalist on Hoggar, the new album by Tinariwen, and previously recorded with Imarhan on their 2022 release Aboogi.

Sung in Arabic, the songs on her debut ABA weave traditional musical textures from Sudan — bluesy rhythms with roots in ancient Nubian folk patterns and the traditions of sub-Saharan Africa — with lush retro-modern soundscapes. It features verses by, and is dedicated to, Abdelazim Sayed Ahmed — Aba — Sulaf’s great-grandfather, a Sufi poet and musician whose reflections on familial bonds, sorrowful partings and blessed homecomings became lifelines during her experience of exile.

‘Naada’, the album’s first single, is oud-driven and synth-laden, serpentine and tempo-changing, unfolding like a desert flower — albeit one blooming somewhere in outer space.

With ABA, Sulaf emerges as a vital new voice — “a vessel for the songs of the women of Sudan”, as she puts it — creating music that speaks both to deep-rooted tradition and a bold, contemporary sonic future.

Sulaf is on tour opening for Tinariwen across Europe this month. ‘Naada’, the first single from her debut album ABA, is out now.