It’s still unclear how our art, literature, and music will be shaped by America’s new administration. What novels will give us solace during the next four years? What songs will provide us the strength to wake up every morning and get out of our goddamn beds? For Ahmed Gallab, the most effective way to respond to hate is with hope, and to overcome anger with joy.
Born in London to Sudanese parents, Gallab and his family moved to the US when he was five after briefly living in Sudan. Cutting his teeth as a touring and session musician for Yeasayer, Of Montreal, and Caribou, Gallab started recording under the moniker Sinkane in 2007, using the solo project as a vehicle to create sounds that reflected his eclectic tastes and multicultural upbringing. Last month’s Life & Livin’ It incorporates Afrobeat, Sudanese pop, psych-rock, and ’60s funk like it’s soundtracking a big, global dance party. It is the most fully realized Sinkane album yet—and, not coincidentally, the most jubilant.
“I really wanted to have a lot of fun with this album,” Gallab says on the phone from Phoenix. “I would start writing a song and settle on a groove, and if it made me dance in the studio then I would know I was doing something right.”