Newly formed Egyptian group Sout Beik have released their first original song, titled The Mask, on music website Anghami on Thursday.

The trio are already well established musicians; Amr Galal (drummer, composer and music producer), Heba Suleiman (music arrangement, composer), and Joe Ghaffar (composer, vocals and lyricist). Each have a portfolio of many performances and cooperations with a variety of ensembles in Egypt, topped with international tours.

“We all have vast experience in music but each of us worked independently. In 2017 together with now my wife Heba since 2013 and Joe, we thought of joining our music passion and skills and do something together,” Amr Galal told Ahram Online.

Their first release is strongly influenced by pop and electronic music, fused with oriental sounds, and Galal hopes the group's unique edgee will find favour on Egypt's music scene.

“We want to explore the many layers of joining oriental with contemporary. I had the music but I was still searching for the perfect voice to provide the vocal line. Joe, whom I have known since 2015, is exactly what we represent musically in Sout Beik,” Galal added.

He explained that the lyrics written by Ghaffar in cooperation with Mohamed El Sayed, explore the idea that people wear different masks to deal with different situations and audiences in life, whether work, school, friends, etc.

“Life is all about masks,” Galal said.

The official video will be released early next month; Galal described it as having a unique touch and said he thought it would trigger different views from the audience.

Among the Sout Beik’s strengths are their outfits, which is obvious in their promotional material and even more so in the video, as Galal reveals. The trio’s wardrobe is taken care of by stylist Engy Elgabaly.

Being self-funded, Sout Beik, is already working on more songs, to be released consecutively on a monthly basis.

“We hope to have a selection of maybe six songs before moving to the phase of concerts,” Galal concludes with a high dosage of enthusiasm.

Listen to The Mask here

Check Sout Beik's Facebook and Instagram pages.

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