The Libyan-Irish artist Farah Elle has returned with her most ambitious song yet.
After debuting the first song from forthcoming album Fatima, ‘Play By Ear’ in April, and collaborating with Kilkenny artist Tanoki, Farah Elle latest song ‘Desert’ captures the solace of being uncontactable, with her trademark piano and stirring vocals, along with a really stunning video by Abe Neihum. that takes inspiration from Farah’s North African heritage.
‘Desert’ features on the album, due in the Autumn, in which “themes of displacement in the period post-Libyan Revolution coexist with songs navigating the challenges of adulthood.”
“There’s a story to this one. My phone was broken for 24 hours and nobody was contacting me because they didn’t have access; which is actually a very rare thing to happen here in 2022. So, like that, along with the clarity and freedom of going about my day without a phone, I wrote Desert in 15 minutes. It’s the quickest song I’ve ever written and it’s probably my favourite on the album. Something people don’t realise about me is how introverted I actually can be. It’s very difficult to balance that time and space into my schedule, as well as the expectations and pressure I put on myself to be the person I am.
Farah Elle
“This song came straight from the root, during a much-needed moment alone. The
deep listening, the peaceful silence, the stillness of calm water. The kind of solitude
we finally achieve after we become so overwhelmed by the busy ways of modern life and outside energies. Then, when we catch that time & space to connect with
nature & ourselves, it washes over us and recharges us.”
Look out for Farah Elle on the RTÉ TV show The Main Stage this month, covering Massive Attack’s ‘Teardrop’.
Of the Abe Neihum video, Farah says:
“As a songwriter, this is the first time I’ve ever done a full-production music video. The director came up with the concept, locations, imagery – pretty much all of it. For me, a control freak, I learned so much during the process about how incredible it is to let go and watch people own their roles once you share a vision and collaborate with great intentions. From our make-up artist, costume designer, stunt double & extras- we had such an eclectic team of individuals from all over the world. We truly had an amazing team. The aesthetic is hugely inspired by images of my grandmothers, with facial tattoos representative of their wisdom, all derived from the Berber and Amazigh tribes of Libya and North Africa. I knew I wanted my ancestry to be prominent in this video because Desert was written directly from the root.
Anyone who has been to an actual desert knows how surreal it is – how we are everything and nothing at the same time. The main character represents our constant quest for peace. How we acquire so much knowledge through life, then we must decipher what to do with this knowledge. Exploring consciousness through nature allows the hooded figure, veiled in authentic North African materials and somewhat “warpaint” – to follow their own path, with their spirit guides always behind them.”
