Text: Anouck Bosma
It has been four years since Tamino’s debut album ‘Amir’ was released. In the meantime, he has become an indispensable part of the music world and Tamino’s music has ended up on several continents, including the Middle East and North America. Finally the long wait is over and we can enjoy the new album ‘Sahar’. We already got a few previews in advance with, among others, ‘The First Disciple’ and ‘Fascination’, these turned out to be good choices to get into the atmosphere for ‘Sahar’ and again Tamino does not disappoint with this album.
Where Amir was written in Amsterdam, Sahar originated in Tamino’s apartment in Antwerp. The album has ten songs and starts with ‘Longing’, as we expect from Tamino, this is a quiet song with Arabic influences. There are a number of surprises on Sahar that make it interesting to listen to. In the second song ‘The Flame’ you can hear how Tamino has grown in his music. This can be heard in the melancholic sound that comes out less and the tempo that is different here. In addition, the song ‘You Don’t Own Me’ can also be found, a number of lucky ones have already heard it live during a solo concert in the Zonnehuis in Amsterdam. This turned out to be a magical experience that promises a lot for the upcoming concerts.
Another new element on this album can be found in the song ‘Sunflower’. Here we hear for the first time a collaboration with none other than Angèle, who you may already know from her collaboration with Dua Lipa. It seems an unlikely match, but nothing could be further from the truth: their voices seem to match well, especially when they sing together. In addition, Tamino was assisted in the making of this album by artists such as Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood.
The melancholy keeps coming back on the whole album, this was also present in the album Amir. The difference is that in a number of songs this is interspersed with a glimmer of hope. This can especially be heard in the songs ‘Cinnamon’ and ‘The Flame’ and these fit Tamino well. The great thing about this album is that there is more variety than on the debut album, but that the elements such as melancholy and Arab influences have remained. For example, Tamino has used the Arabic instrument the oud, which is a pear-shaped stringed instrument with a distinctive and versatile sound. In addition, the lyrics sound like poems, which comes together nicely with the music. Especially the closing track ‘My Dearest Friend And I’ is one of the pearls of the album in which Tamino’s voice comes out best.