‘Akhir Sarkha’: Saudi psych-rockers Seera score Mother Nature’s howl with exquisite magic
It’s a wavering knife-edge in the world of psych-rock.
If wandered well, such lysergic terrain can touch celestial peaks of chromatic, glittering epiphany. When lapsing the other way, however, one feels trapped in a cheap, retro template of generic cosmic noodle loops in some ghastly falafel shack.
Thankfully, Seera steers well clear of such trite lapses. Formed in Riyadh in 2022, the Saudi Arabian quartet is gifted with a captivating mine of all that’s evocatively transportive when desert rock’s explored right. The Islamic kingdom’s first all-female band, Seera’s artful blend of Arab lyricism and instrumentation, widened with a universal stir that crosses boundaries and cultures, has mined a dusky gem for latest single, ‘Akhir Sarkha’.
Dropped via Women in CTRL Records and Arabic for “The Last Scream”, ‘Akhir Sarkha’ scores the political failure at the heart of ecological collapse and climate erosion like a whirlwind of natural warning, weaving between planes of troubled serenity and wounded howl with exquisite command.
The natural world anchors the entire piece, an earthy compass forever guiding ‘Akhir Sarkha’s creative current, replete with the hissing buzz and chirping yelps of the teeming ecosystem at stake, illustrating with wild fervour the lyrical allusions to imperilled panthers, eagles, and otters.
All of Seera’s members shine and gel amid ‘Akhir Sarkha’s jazzy nebula. Haya’s guitar licks with textured radiance, Meesh’s bass is tight but elastic, Thing’s drums click and shuffle in tandem with the animal kingdom’s swarming life, and Nora’s authoritative vocals ebb and bob amid the apparitional splash like an instrument in itself.
The twists and turns ‘Akhir Sarkha’ snake around never lose momentum or take abrupt shifts disrupting the song’s enchanting slither, and the dramatic heft plumbed are both stirring but never grandiose.
With a high-profile set due at Queen Elizabeth Hall for BBC Introducing ahead of their Sarab EP in November, curated by Self Esteem in partnership with the Saudi Music Commission, Seera look set to thrust their native country to the global musical map on an unprecedented level.
Brimming with intriguing energy and effortless dazzle, ‘Akhir Sarkha’ further cements that Seera are the best thing to happen to the world of desert-psych in a long while.
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