47SOUL

47SOUL have become renowned for inventing their own genre Shamstep (also the name of their debut EP), which fuses dubby synthie sounds with rock elements, hip-hop and pop lyrics in English and Arabic. The high-energy electronic creation, featuring Arab roots music (Dabke) have been kicked up a gear on Balfron Promise, with cinematic soundscapes and menacing rock undertones creating an extra atmospheric edge.

The quartet have cultivated a fast-growing following from gigs around the world, including Glastonbury, Womad, Boomtown Fair, Bestival, Roskilde Festival, Esperanzah, Paleo Festival, MaMa, Womex, Reeperbahn, Visa for Music, The Great Escape, c/o Pop. Their distinctive hooks and powerful political lyrics resonate with their fans with their iconic YouTube music video for their debut single Intro to Shamstep.

They also have a formidable reputation as a live act built on their energetic and intoxicatingly otherworldly live shows. This is demonstrated by their sold-out record release show of their new album at London’s Village Underground and by many others such as in Amsterdam, Berlin, Cairo, Istanbul, Paris. After almost 100 gigs they finished their 2018 tour on a festival in Brazil for 20,000 people in front of their stage. In 2019, the band will tour in North America for the first time.

Beyond their musical influence, 47SOUL are renowned as a voice on social and humanitarian issues – the band’s very name is an allusion to the year before the occupation of Palestine starting in 1948. Their lyrics, mixing Arabic and English, call for celebration and freedom in the struggle for equality, not only in the “Sham” region (Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan) but around the world.