Originally formed in 2005, Jerusalem In My Heart began as a rare venture, combining re-imagined Arabic and electronic music traditions with theatrical stage visuals and 16 mm film projections for sporadic live performances in Beirut and their native Montreal. Founded by producer/Hotel2Tango co-owner/Lebanese national Radwan Moumneh, Jerusalem In My Heart is now a core trio with French musician/producer Jérémie Regnier and Chilean visual artist/filmmaker Malena Szlam Salazar.
After resisting documentation, the trio is set to release a mesmerizing debut LP on Constellation Records. It’s called Mo7it Al-Mo7it and is out March 19. You can listen to it for one week and read/hear an interview with Moumneh below.
ListenMo7it Al-Mo7it by JIMH
Streaming until March 19
Tracklist
(Courtesy of Constellation Records)
“You look [at the title] and it’s really impossible to read,” Moumneh says, excitedly over the phone. “I love that you look at it and it blocks where your brain would want to go.”
He takes much glee in explaining that Mo7it Al-Mo7it is pronounced "Mo-hit Al-Mo-hit," and that it’s a reference to contemporary culture.
“When Arabs text, we text Arabic words using Latin letters and numbers, which represent Arabic letters,” he says. “For me, it was very important to do that because I wanted the record to be dated, to be very clear of the time where it comes from, as opposed to stuff that is timeless that can exist at any moment."
“This says ‘this is from 2013,’” he adds. “A lot of people disagree with me and say it makes it less pertinent but I think it’s the opposite.”
While Jerusalem In My Heart has been performing locally (which, for Moumneh, means his homes in Quebec and Lebanon) for almost eight years, their unique use of spaces — for film projections and other visual art — coupled with busy work schedules has made the project an important but occasional outlet. As the project secured its creative footing, a desire to tour in places like Europe, North Africa, the Gulf, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan crept in, but no agent would take them seriously without a proper album to the band’s name.
“Constellation had been expressing interest in wanting to release a record for the project for the last couple of years and so we decided to do that, even though that was, on a conceptual level, not quite what I wanted to do,” Moumneh explains. “Making a record wasn’t in my plans for this project but, after making it, I’m actually growing quite fond of it and attached to what it is, as an object.”
IMTo hear the full conversation, you can download an MP3 if you right-click this highlighted text and “Save target as." Or to stream it, press play.
Follow Vish Khanna on Twitter: @vishkhanna
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