For international audiences, Ettab (occasionally written as Etab) seems relatively unknown. However, in the Arabic-speaking world, this Saudi singer is a huge star. A legend? Maybe best described as an icon, in fact. And rightly so.
Ettab was born in 1947 as Tarouf Abdulkhair Adam Muhammad al-Talal Hawsawi, in Riyadh, but was exiled for her activism and support for women’s rights in the music world, spending the majority of her time in Egypt until her death in 2007.
I suppose it’s not unfair to call this album pop music. Recorded in 1992, in Lebanon, by producer brothers, Mahmoud and Ahmed Moussa for their Re-Lax label, it serves as a great collection of songs for discovering an artist who delivered over 15 albums in her lifetime. Catchy melodies and string-laden music – alongside some amazing synth work – is set against Ettab’s exceptional voice, which is both rich and playful.
There is a distinct North African vibe, or chaabi (which is used to describe a genre of ‘folk’ music from that region), alongside the more specific Algerian/European fusion known as raï. This provides the music with the more modern elements of several Western musical styles alongside the obvious Arabian influences, especially noticeable on Track 4 Khalas Min Hobek.
It’s this mix that gives the album a timeless sound – and yet, it could also have been produced some thirty years previous to its actual release date, such are the visuals it creates in the listener’s mind, mostly on its opening two tracks, Min fina Ya Hal Tara and Ya El Koweit. However, for me, it’s the penultimate track, Ma Aâla El Aâchik, that captures what this album is all about. The album was reissued in 2023 by French label, Elmir Records, which is devoted to ensuring that the musical heritage of North Africa and the Middle East is conserved.
A vinyl pressing, of which only 500 copies were made, is still available via their Bandcamp page at the time of writing. Listen to Ettab’s album in the embedded player below, or via your preferred streaming service.