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Saint Levant Releases Debut Album “DEIRA,” Blending North African Melodies and Contemporary Pop

  • June 10, 2024
  • 3 min read
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Saint Levant Releases Debut Album “DEIRA,” Blending North African Melodies and Contemporary Pop

Saint levant, deira, contemporary pop, African

Palestinian-Algerian artist Saint Levant has released his eagerly awaited debut album, DEIRA, through Universal Arabic Music. Produced by Saint Levant, Abdellah Messous, Khalil Cherradi, and others, this album melds English, French, and Arabic, infusing North African melodies, Arab percussive beats, and contemporary pop. Accompanied by five visualizers set to release later on Friday, **DEIRA** presents a vibrant storytelling experience. [Listen to DEIRA here](#).

**DEIRA** reflects Saint Levant’s multicultural upbringing in Palestine and Jordan, born to a Palestinian-Serbian father and a Palestinian-Algerian mother. Inspired by the Al Deira Hotel in Gaza, the album imagines a future return to a liberated Palestine. Saint Levant explains, “All Palestinian art from the last 75 years, whether Sliman Mansour’s paintings or Ghassan Kanafani’s poetry, begins before the artist and always at the same point: the Nakba of 1948. Since then, every Palestinian continues the journey of catastrophe, displacement, and exile, dreaming of return and resisting until they are rooted once more on their land. **DEIRA** embodies multiple journeys for me. The title evokes a hotel overlooking the sea in Al-Rimal, Gaza City, designed and operated by my father since 2001. Al Deira Hotel was a beautiful structure and my childhood home, destroyed by IDF bombings in late 2023. The project’s visual language imagines the hotel as a locale of return, symbolizing a free Palestine.”

**DEIRA** explores themes of love, displacement, identity, and culture, with standout tracks like “Galbi,” “5am in Paris,” and “Deira.” The album features collaborations with Kehlani, MC Abdul, TIF, Sol Band, and Algerian Raï legend Cheb Bilal. Sol Band’s lead vocalist, Rahaf, recorded her vocals from Gaza, emphasizing the album’s deep connection to Palestinian roots. Palestinian-Jordanian artist Zeyne provided background vocals throughout the album, adding another layer of rich cultural texture. Saint Levant performs in French, Arabic, and English, offering a profound and layered listening experience.

“Galbi” is a harmonic blend of English, French, and Arabic, set against warm instrumentation with violin and percussion, showcasing Saint Levant’s talent for integrating diverse musical influences.

“Allah Yihmeeki,” featuring Kehlani, includes vibrant vocals from Palestinian-Chilean artist Elyanna’s live performances, where she chants, “Aywah! Yalla Yalla Yanna.” Zeyne’s background harmonies add depth to this dynamic fusion of Arab-pop and R&B, highlighting Saint Levant’s ability to merge traditional and contemporary sounds.

“5am in Paris” captures the essence of late-night reflections and early-morning epiphanies.

The title track “Deira,” featuring MC Abdul, is an introspective tribute to Palestinian culture, with Saint Levant and MC Abdul showcasing their talents in traditional Shaabi Arab musical style. Accompanied by a live performance video, this track uses traditional Arabic instruments like the oud and darbuka, adding a rich cultural layer to the music. With evocative lyrics and a compelling melody, it stands as a highlight of Saint Levant’s nuanced storytelling.

Following his electrifying Coachella performance, Saint Levant will perform at New York City’s Governors Ball on June 9, further solidifying his dynamic presence in the global music scene.

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Chris Ryan

Chris Ryan is an accomplished promoter, event planner, producer, activist, counselor, poet and blogger. Within the course of two and a half years Chris Ryan has worked with some of NYC's most established promoters/event planners, been named 2007′s GaySocialite of the year, granted a promoter of the year award from NYC's most famous gay establishment, Splash. He's worked in some of NYC's top venues including; Avalon, Capitale, Cipriani, Cielo, Pacha, Element, Le Poisson Rouge, XL, G Lounge, Plumm, Hilton Hotel, Indigo Hotel, Spirit, Myst/Quo, Splash, The Ritz, Vlada, Roseland Ballroom, Heaven, etc.In 2008, Chris Ryan has begun to unveil some of the most innovative & unique parties New York City has ever seen. The Fusion events "fuse" together all disciplines of art into an event that remains diverse yet cohesive at the same time. ChrisRyanNYC.com won best gay promotions website from NYC Event Patrons in 2008 & he was granted an award from the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, Gov. Patterson & Michelle Clunie (QAF) saluting him for his hard work in nightlife. Chris Ryan has also begun working with many renown companies, including; doctors, lawyers, physicians, modeling agencies & more. Chris Ryan has been responsible for wide-scale promotions for all these companies & generating tremendous business. Chris Ryan has even started to become National with events taking place in LA & Miami this year.In May of 2009 Chris Ryan received the very prestigious honor of being named a "40 Under 40″ Gays in America by the Advocate Magazine. He also created three successful parties that generated over 1,500 patrons each. In January of 2010 Chris Ryan was featured as one of the top promoters to look out for in Noize Magazine Chris Ryan joined forces with legendary promoter/event producer, Lee Chappell and created one of the most talked about events of all 2010, Desire @ Capitale. Chris Ryan and Lee featured one of the most outstanding artists NYC has ever seen, "Oh Land." Her performance coupled with an exquisite and unforgettable set design added to this extravagant event that held over 1,000 patrons in one of NYC's most successful PRIDE events! Chris Ryan then joined forces with legendary Pacha promoter, Rob Fernandez in addition to Jake Resnicow and Tommy Marinelli to bring one of the largest and most successful parties worldwide to NYC, MATINEE. The event on Governor's Island saw over 2,000+ attendees and one of the most ambitious productions ever.In 2011 Chris Ryan started Emerge Music Promotions with business partner Darren Melchiorre. Emerge Music promotions began signing artists with plans to develop and market the artists to the community at large. Emerge Music promotions has big events planned for 2012 and 2013. Chris Ryan debuted the IMAGE events which took place on top of two of NYC's most beautiful rooftop venues, Rare View and Indigo Hotel. The events were blogged everywhere and featured the fashion designs of several clothing designers, artists and photographers. Chris Ryan felt that fashion and art should be displayed at every event and attracted the likes of Malan Breton, Calvin Klein and even Katy Perry. Chris Ryan began an extremely successful event which incorporated the concept of a house party into a nightclub atmosphere. The event Twist'D at G Lounge has been one of the most talked about events in NYC and allows it's audience to play nearly-naked Twister, beer pong, flip cup & more with other attendees. Chris Ryan was granted an excellence in volunteering award from AVP (Anti-Violence Project) for all his efforts in supporting the organization.2013 has a very promising landscape on the horizon and Chris Ryan is complacent in saying "you haven't seen anything yet!"

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