Sounds of Refuge, a new world music album by John Falsetto, Mohamed Sarrar and Ammar Haj, will be debuted next month at the Victorious Festival. The album’s creators met at the Calais Jungle refugee camp and all three now live in the UK.
Falsetto, Sarrar and Haj first performed together in the play The Jungle, written Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson and performed at the Good Chance theatre. Since then, the trio have gone on to create music that fuses Zimbabwean, Sudanese and Syrian music.
“Sounds of Refuge is a journal and expression of thoughts and feelings in raw sound – the kind that one writes when journeying far from home,” said Falsetto. “Performing at the Victorious Festival couldn’t come at a better time because, so to speak, sounds of refuge are ‘victorious’!
“Mohamed, Ammar and I are excited to share this humble offering, which was set to flight by Good Chance. There’s nothing better that brings people together than the ability express artistically.”
The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios, and also features pianist Duncan Webb. It will be released on 31 August via iTunes, with the artwork for Sounds of Refuge created by Majid Adin, an Iranian visual artist who also resided at the Jungle camp.
Robertson and Murphy have thrown their support behind this project via the Good Chance Ensemble, and are currently working on a music video that will feature “Good Chance friends from across the world.”