‘Oum’

A real star in Morocco, Oum has made a name for herself in Europe thanks to her songs that mix traditional North African styles with soul, jazz and electronic music. In March 2020, the tour of her third album Daba had to be suspended due to the outbreak of the global pandemic. To transcend this trying time, Oum has developed an alternative project with Cuban saxophonist M-Carlos. "HALS is the name of this duo-electro concept in which we explore seven states of being experienced since the beginning of the pandemic: fear, confusion, desire, acceptance, the need for expression, dreams and empathy." On the duo's first album, simply titled HALS (2022), Oum sings about her multiple identities in Moroccan Arabic dialect Darija, French, English and Spanish. "I like the idea of building our own identity instead of being content with the genetic-historical-cultural heritage. And like in any creative process, change is part of the game, as are diversity, plurality and experimentation. Music transforms us, to bring us closer to who we really are," she explains.