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Sinkane shares So It Goes from an album shaped by his father’s death

Sudanese-American musician Ahmed Gallab, who records as Sinkane, has announced He’s Gone for February 26 through City Slang. The first single, So It Goes, features guitarist Mdou Moctar. Written after Gallab’s father died, the album brings together memories of family and loss, with guests including Yo-Yo Ma and Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

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Seen from behind in an over-the-shoulder view on the sunlit stage at Public Records in Brooklyn, a musician plays an electric guitar in front of a microphone and amplifier.

So It Goes introduces the February album

Sudanese-American musician Ahmed Gallab, who records under the name Sinkane, has announced He’s Gone and shared its first single, So It Goes. City Slang will release the album on February 26. Tuareg guitarist Mdou Moctar appears on the single. The new project follows Gallab’s 2024 album We Belong and was written after his father’s death.[1], [2]

Memory, family and loss are among the themes Gallab identifies for the album. He handled production, engineering and mixing himself. The guests include Yo-Yo Ma, Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Annie & The Caldwells as well as Moctar, with their appearances distributed across the ten tracks. Ma and Preservation Hall Jazz Band play on the opening song, which shares the album’s title, He’s Gone.[1]

Vonnegut’s novel supplied the single’s title

So It Goes comes second in the running order and includes Moctar’s guitar solo. Gallab says he took its title from the refrain that accompanies deaths in Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Slaughterhouse-Five. After losing his father, he found comfort in the book’s idea that moments in the past, present and future exist together. He also describes wanting an East African psychedelic character for the song. These are Gallab’s explanations of the piece and its origins in his own experience of bereavement.[1]

Annie & The Caldwells appear on the closing track

Let Me Know follows the opening pair. The sequence then moves through Hold Me and River to Sunrise. Take Your Time, Good Grief and What Now are the next three titles. Annie & The Caldwells join the final song, After, Forever. Gallab says making the album allowed him to grieve. He describes starting with the intention of writing about losing his father and then finding both his father and himself through the work. A performance celebrating the album’s release is scheduled for March 6 at Public Records, a venue in Brooklyn, New York. The concert will accompany the newly announced album.[1]

References

  1. News sourceStereogumSinkane releases So It Goes from He’s Gone↩1↩2↩3↩4
  2. News sourceSPINSinkane releases So It Goes from He’s Gone↩

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