The music of 47SOUL combines Dabke, the traditional Palestinian street music and dance, with deep electronic beats mixed with sounds of the Middle East.
Taking these sounds to the dance floor with analog synthesisers, dub-effects and trance inducing guitar lines, their lyrics delivered in tripped-out verses by four singers in a mixture of Arabic and English, call for freedom of movement on global dance floors and across border checkpoints. A celebration of freedom and the struggle for equality around the world.
In 2015 they released their debut EP ‘Intro to Shamstep’, within two weeks it had amassed over 50,000 plays and their first music video 30,000 plays on youtube in the first week (now at over 1 million and rising by around 3K plays per day).
5 shows at Glastonbury the following summer, and a momentous set in WOMADs illustrious Red tent led the The Telegraph to include them in their highlights amongst De La Soul and Tinairiwen “Womad is best when it’s edgy….and nothing summed this up more than 47Soul, a Palestinian collective whose Pan-Arabic street music on Friday afternoon was spine-tingling. Their take on protest music with a groove … pure Womad in a bottle.” The Telegraph.
They subsequently made appearances at WOMAD Chile, Australia and New Zealand where they had an incredible reception amongst crowds of up to 8000 and 500 respectively at their Adelaide shows with headliner Asian Dub Foundation crediting them as their favourite new group in their closing set to over 25,000 people.
National radio and TV features complemented the performances together with various local press and print media both in Australia and New Zealand. Adding to coverage numerous national UK publications: The Independent & The Guardian as well as an appearance on Clive Anderson’s BBC Radio 4 show.
In Europe this year they have been paving the way with sold out debut shows in several countries. Their French debut at La Bellevilloise in Paris was completely sold out, with a PR campaign that included national TV and magazine coverage.
Main Stage slots at major festivals in Lyon, Switzerland, OSLO World Music Festival, Norway and their Berlin debut show at YAAM, are fast gaining them a reputation amongst bookers and winning over audiences with their enthralling and powerful performances.
A U.S tour in the pipeline and shows in S.Korea, Palestine and Morocco see this groundbreaking act continue to take the sounds of Shamstep to worldwide audiences.