OUM & M-CARLOS (EN)

Hal in Arabic means: state, situation, emotion. For HALS, Oum and M-Carlos have explored the emotions that have inhabited each and every one of us for some time, to deliver a play in seven acts. Oum’s lyrics and melodies are supported by the groove of an electro ambient from M-Carlos on saxophone and Maschine.

Hals is the intimate diary of Oum’s inner journey, the musical dissection of her moods and energies during the first lockdown. Holed up in Morocco, she put words to her emotions, her sensations – her ‘Hals’ – fear, desire, confusion, acceptance, truth, dreams and empathy. With Cuban musician M-Carlos, pilot of the Maschine – a production station that combines a sampler, a drum machine and a synthesizer – they forged precise, electro, synthetic sounds to reproduce as faithfully as possible what was going on under her skin and in her flesh. Far from being a purely intimate record, this concept album, as stripped-down as it is sensual, as rough as it is smooth, paints a picture of our universal emotions, and the memory of an exceptional moment, a shared interlude.

For each of the seven HALS, there is a core composed of lyrics and a sound base leaving the field open to different possibilities of interpretation on stage. Thus, the expression of these states can take more or less varied forms, as is the case with our own feelings when faced with a particular emotion that is repeated and renewed at different times in our lives.

Oum: Vocals M-Carlos: Saxophone & Maschine