Josef’s ‘BADALNI WA7EED’ is a story that begins in a Bath apartment, a late night and a soft obsession with chasing the sounds of home and here, of the past and of now. Born in Dubai to an Iraqi father and Palestinian mother, raised between Amman, Dubai, and Vienna, Josef’s upbringing is one that straddled cultures. Attuned to the Western styles of the sixties and seventies, yet also finding inspiration in Arabic artists, the mix of influences became a soundtrack to his identity.
At nine years old, Josef picked up the guitar, and the habit stuck. “Making this song felt like being a kid again,” he recalls on writing ‘BADALNI WA7EED’, stumbling into its foundations via the magnificent ‘Grace’ by Jeff Buckley.
He continues, “There are times when I have to really think about what I’m saying in my lyrics and make sure that I’m talking about something meaningful, but not this time. The words felt like they were straight from my soul; something about being in a town like Bath in the dead of night was so inspiring. I have the moment I wrote the song on video, there’s an energy to it.”
The energy is carried from the room that night, through the performance and production, into the sound waves that eventually reach the listener. The ethereal stylisation, reverberating vocals and modulating guitar lines, alongside firm, rhythmic acoustic chords, fall outside of general categorisation. Josef’s goal has always been to weave Western and Arabic cultures in ways seldom attempted musically. Restless, meditative, dark, warm and alone, it’s unique; even on first listen, however, it asserts a distant familiarity.
‘BADALNI WA7EED’ is intimate and contemporary, but leans into the timelessness of simple poetry, taking Arabic cues with melody and language. There’s a truth that transcends language within the indie folk closeness, the mellow kick drums and the sheer perceptive confidence. The result is a connection that feels new, an arrival at the Modern Arabic sound that Josef is chasing, as much about sensitivity and self-expression as multi-cultural roots—a homeliness, heartfelt and human.