Musical identity with Sinkane, Emel Mathlouthi, Laima Leyton, and Shirley Tetteh

This week on Music Life Sinkane (Ahmed Gallab) is joined by Emel Mathlouthi, Laima Leyton, and Shirley Tetteh.

With such an eclectic mix of musicians it’s only right they talk about straddling multiple cultures, the role spirituality plays in their music, how you turn an idea into a song, and the all-important question of who their biggest fan is. Macaulay Culkin may get mentioned.

Sinkane returns to host his second show of Music Life. He’s a Sudanese-American musician who blends krautrock, prog rock, electronica, free jazz and funk rock with Sudanese pop. Emel Mathlouthi is a Tunisia-born, New York-based singer-songwriter, who gained popularity after a video of her performing during a Tunisian street protest went viral online during the Arab Spring. As a result, her music was banned from Tunisian radio airwaves, which earned her the title "voice of the Tunisian revolution". Brazilian music producer Laima Leyton has been DJ-ing around the globe as one half of Mixhell, and has played with Igor Cavalera, as well as producing her own music and remixing and collaborating with artists such as Moby, Buraka Som Sistema, Soulwax, and Diplo. And finally, Shirley Tetteh AKA Nardeydey is one of the most exciting guitarists in the UK right now. As part of the band Nerija, they released their debut album Blume last year.