A Closer Listen
Turkish Injazero label head Sine Buyuka steps out as Sinemis to deliver a devastating diatribe against the government of her home country. Farewell is also heartbreaking, pulsating with love and loss, the artist now in London, looking back on a once-thriving democracy and mourning its transformation.
If one event is to sum up the pain and betrayal, it is the 2022 Türkiye-Syria earthquake, to which the authorities responded, “It was fate, it was God’s will,” prompting Sinemis’ own response, “It’s Not Fate, It’s You,” the title of the album’s opening track and lead single. Drawing on Turkish textures, the composer builds an atmosphere of anticipation, leading to the intensity of confrontation. An event that could have drawn a country together instead ripped it apart.
It’s difficult for electronic music to sound mournful, but Sinemis captures this mood on “Exit Democracy,” which exudes an undercurrent of sadness. This feeling is created by the contrast between drone and pulse, amplified in the precipitous breakdown. Only when the drums enter does the feeling dissipate, albeit momentarily. The drone, like an aura of anxiety, never quite leaves. Those still in Türkiye continue to feel this insecurity.
Much of the album continues this dance between anger and sadness, nostalgia and hope. While embracing the framework of techno, Sinemis recalls the music of her past, transforming it into a beautiful remembrance. “Dua II,” a mini-sequel of sorts to Dua, honors whirling dervishes with a hypnotizing rhythm that might lead even a non-Sufi worshipper into a holy trance. Recognizing the ability of music to convey memory, the artist extracts tendrils of hope from the past, in effect saying that what once was can be again.
The title “Us vs. Them” is particularly provocative. The world need not be this way, but those in power prefer it to be so. The track itself is agitated and aggressive, a reflection of current times, not only in Türkiye but around the world. And yet, despite its hard edge, the track glows with an unexpected warmth, as harmonic patterns accumulate like bonds of friendship or previews of peace. The set ends in subdued tones, the title track looking back, praying that something has changed, that the loved one has been redeemed, that farewell is not forever. (Richard Allen)
Tue Apr 29 00:01:38 GMT 2025