Review: Tamara Qaddoumi ‘Sorry Signal’
In the state of nothing and everything at once, Tamara Qaddoumi is a rare talent who doesn’t compromise or retreat.
Sorry Signal touches death and grief in search of identity and belonging, and the answer is nowhere and everywhere. Her Kuwaiti, Palestinian, Lebanese, and Scottish upbringing is seamlessly reflected in the music. Cold Pop seems like the perfect genre to describe Qaddoumi’s music — a beat that resembles the pulse of life, a voice that’s uniquely hers, and around the two, soundscapes are ever-evolving. Sorry Signal feels like the world under a microscope, so complex and simple, so beautiful and drastic.
“Under The Knife” contemplates morality with immediacy. The song explores the duality of fragility and drastic in confrontation of death. Qaddoumi takes a graceful approach. The song sees her embracing her poetic and artistic spirit, dancing on the line that pulls two extremes into one fold. With a laid-back yet driven beat and a distant yet immersive vocal, she brings a unique blend of cold pop that balances between sensations, immediacy, and emptiness.
Qaddoumi is a poet who can’t be defined by the borders drawn by men. With a multicultural background, she brings her unique perspective into the world of sounds. She paints with a sensuous voice, a pulsation that resonates with the strength of life and joy, and an expansive sonic vision that scatters into millions of imageries triggered by contemporary pop soundscapes.
Questioning identity and belonging, “Cold in the Mourning” beams warmly in a cold-esque atmosphere. Hope, desperation, coldness, and depression all dance in the same space, being woven into a tight thread that gives out a burst of life and love.
“Over Fire” is like a wicked ghost fire dances so seductively, drawing you a dark world, filled with whispers and haunted voices. With a noise-coiled dark sonic palette, her breathy voice is constant among swelling and shape-shifting sounds. Like an alluring nightmare that you can’t escape from, the track is impressionistic and sprawling.
“Sorry Signal” has her lazy jazz voice that resembles The Cranberries and Lana Del Rey. The contract between her smoothly rich voice and a bouncy bass is what spices of the single. Very atmospheric, minimalist in a way, but laid back and alluring. Mysterious, conflicting and so stirring.
Read our interview below with the artist:
What was the creative process like for this particular EP?
Sorry Signal EP’s creative process began with me checking in with myself to keep going. Then this expanded into writing letters every day to the people I lost. Then these letters turned into songs.
What is your favorite track on Sorry Signal and what makes it special?
I would say “Over Fire.” There's a shift in tonal behavior, most people haven’t heard me use my speaking voice to narrate my emotions. I like it better.
How does this EP fit into your overall artistic vision?
I think it fits just right for where I am in my life.
Any fun moments/challenges during the making of the music videos?
My eyes were bloodshot red for three days straight for “Under The Knife” due to too much chlorine exposure. I’m sure many people thought I had stocked up on plenty of space brownies. But it was my first time filming underwater, and I hope not the last.
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