Bedouine – Azniv Korkejian – revisits the feelings of childhood safety and security and mourns the passing of those feelings with her new album, Neon Summer Skin. It’s an album that entertains whilst managing to tell a deep and comprehensive story.
A STORY OF FAMILY AND UPBRINGING
We’ve had plenty of advance warning for this one. Indeed, Bedouine has been drip-feeding samples of what she’s had in store for us with Neon Summer Skin – her 5th album – for the past couple of months. Those advance samples certainly served to whet appetites. Lead single, Long Way To Fall and quickfire follow-ups Always On Time and On My Own each served to showcase Bedouine’s rich, resonant voice and the flawless production of her music and to set an enticing scene for the album to come.
Well – the album is here. And it’s certainly been worth the wait. But, before we get too far along that particular road, let’s recap…
Bedouine is the project of Syrian-American musician, Azniv Korkejian. She chose the name because she relates, personally, to the Bedouin way of life. Her 2017 eponymous debut album was inspired by memories of her early life in Syria. With Neon Summer Skin, Bedouine revisits the feelings of security that the luckiest amongst us experience during early childhood. Written with vivid, honest and intimate imagery after visiting her family in Saudi Arabia, her new songs tell her story of family and upbringing and mourn the end of her childhood.
A RETURN TO INSTRUMENTAL ROOTS
Bedouine’s reputation has been built upon what Rolling Stone magazine has described as her “humble folk-pop brilliance.” For Neon Summer Skin, however, she’s moved away from that template to explore different genres, returning – in the process – to the instruments that she learned as a child. Bedouine takes up the story: “My first instrument was piano, that I begrudgingly practiced daily, due to my mom’s militant approach. My second instrument was trumpet, which I started in elementary school. For the album, I used a handful of valved brass instruments that I could translate my knowledge of trumpet onto (valved trombone, tuna).”
And the result? Neon Summer Skin is a collection of songs that, whilst telling Bedouine’s sometimes joyful, sometimes wistful, story, also blends some of the very best aspects of folk, bossa nova, jazz, soul and psychedelia into a delicious and exotic gumbo.
WITH ADDED LEMON TWIGS
The visit to Saudi Arabia stirred conflicting emotions for Bedouine. She relished the nostalgia, the company of her family and the feelings of belonging that she experienced there. But that euphoria was tempered by the realization when she left, that the visit was likely to be her last – at least whilst her parents remained there (they’ve now relocated to Armenia).
Those conflicting emotions were the inspiration to On My Own, the new album’s opening track. I’m immediately struck, once again, by the velvety resonance of Bedouine’s voice. It’s a voice that doesn’t require too much accompaniment and, here at least, the instrumentation is pared back to piano, soft drums (courtesy of guest Lemon twig Michael D’Addario) and flurries of guitar (from brother Lemon Twig Brian D’Addario). The backing vocals are gentle and harmonious and the song oozes lush sophistication.
Also featuring The Lemon Twigs, lead single Long Way To Fall is introduced by Trey Pollard’s soothing string arrangement. Brian D’Addario’s organ simmers softly as Bedouine delivers her lyrics: “You don’t know what it’s like after the lights go down – you don’t know what it’s like to be the only one,” with a voice that combines vulnerability with quiet confidence. And the intimacy intensifies for Always On Time – another of the album’s ‘preview’ singles. Bedouine’s vocals here are jazzy and sincere – and the effect is dreamy and relaxing.
EVERYONE’S OLDER NOW…
Logan Horne’s flute sets the agenda for the stunning One Thing Right, and drummer Joey Waronker’s bossa nova rhythm provides the drive. There’s sweetness and intimacy in Bedouine’s vocals and the song blends soul and bossa nova so effectively that the join is all but undetectable.
Perhaps the song that best captures Bedouine’s bittersweet childhood reflections is the album’s thoughtful title track. It’s almost possible to see the images circulating within Bedouine’s mind as, with lyrics like: “I was so small, yet nothing at all could harm me. But, oh – everyone’s older now,” she regrets the passage of time and the loss of that treasure childhood security.
As a child, Bedouine’s mother was placed in a Beirut orphanage by her own mother – as a means of protecting her from her abusive father. That’s a story that Bedouine revisits with Canopies. The song opens with a conversation with her mother that Bedouine recorded during a family trip to Houston, and concludes with Bedouine’s reflection upon the trauma suffered by her mother: “Of all the stones to leave unturned on the sea shores of Lebanon, to my kith and kin – nears inconsolable tears.” It’s a gentle song that sees Bedouine make a brief return to her singer-songwriter roots.
BOSSA NOVA AND BLOODY FOOTPRINTS
Strings, brass and funky percussion all play their part in Deghma Cheega, another slice of irresistible bossa nova in which Bedouine delivers her lyrics in Arabic (…I think.) And we stick with the bossa nova rhythms for the excellent Na Na Na. The song builds upon Bedouine’s proposition that we are each responsible for giving our own lives meaning, even as we mourn versions of ourselves that no longer exist. Musically, it’s a song that has everything, with vocals, lyrics and the well-considered instrumentation all fitting together perfectly.
Neon Summer Skin is packed with Bedouine’s personal memories of an often-idyllic childhood. But not all of her memories are celebratory and it’s a sinister aspect that pervades White Patent leather. The song is a recollection of a Syrian wedding and, apparently, it was a tradition at such events for a lamb to be sacrificed. The mood is set by the song’s opening couplet: “Blood of the lamb, breaking of a dam,” and the effects of the sacrifice are felt throughout the song – in the bloody footprints left by the bride’s stilettos, to the empty carcass of the lamb, left in place after the ceremony ends.
“I WASN’T READY TO STOP BEING SOMEBODY’S KID“
And, to close this remarkable album, Bedouine returns to the memories of her mother’s orphanage experience by revisiting Canopies, this time in the form of a contemplative solo piano piece. It’s a fitting conclusion to an album that entertains, whilst telling an interesting and informative story at the same time.
“For my 20s and much of my 30s, I couldn’t sit still,” says Bedouine. “I would pack my car and move to a new place. I was so curious about my own independence that it just didn’t occur to me, for the longest time, to mourn my past. But, after [my last trip to visit my family in Saudi] I came home and was so devastated. I couldn’t place the feeling immediately but, as I started writing, I realized that I wasn’t ready to stop being somebody’s kid.”
That’s a message that, with Neon Summer Sky, Bedouine has articulated clearly and so very effectively.
Watch the official video to One Thing Right – a standout track from the album – below:
Bedouine: Website