Saint Levant orchestrates a fateful homecoming on his new album DEIRA, an album that celebrates the indomitable voices and sounds of Palestine. Across eight mesmerizing tracks, he conjures up a poignant symbol of hope out of a childhood memory of his father’s hotel, using it to channel all his pain and mourning into an emphatically rousing declaration of faith.

A Moving Vocalization of the Enduring Dream of Palestinian Restitution

The album’s title and cover conjure a memory of Al Deira Hotel in Gaza, a place synonymous with Saint Levant’s childhood that he transforms into a powerful symbol of Palestine’s restoration. Designed and run by his father since 2001, the building was destroyed by IDF bombings in 2023. Yet Levant assures listeners that this violent demolition, like the ongoing genocide, will not snuff out the unyielding hope guarded by Palestinians around the world.

“Our biggest weapon is our family trees / We didn’t choose to live this life overseas,” he urges on its opening track. “I hear the sounds of the bombs in my sleep / But I never in my life heard the sound of defeat.” Levant’s words invoke the festering pain and incandescent faith carried by that diaspora — “cuz we are a nation of displaced dreamers” — urging them to nurture the vision of that fateful homecoming.

Rallying Collaborations Pay Tribute to the Sounds and Voices of Palestine

DEIRA brings together a host of Palestinian voices and artists who’ve refused to remain silent. “Imagine thinking you can censor us,” Saint Levant spits at the end of “On This land.” The track features Sol Band, the members of which found themselves just a few months ago taking shelter from Israeli attacks, with lead singer Rahaf Shamaly recording her vocals for the song while still in Gaza.

Yet the visceral personal connections only strengthen the bonds forged amidst the horror and fear that’s consumed their home. Refusing to back down, Levant bolsters the album’s message and affirms the presence of a native and international community who’ve made it their mission to rally behind the Palestinian people, like Algerian raï singer Cheb Bilal or Kehlani, who recently unveiled her own loving ode to the cause.

There’s the 15-year-old MC Abdul, who only recently got his family out of Gaza, his bars adding a profound weight to the title track and finale. While the hauntingly urgent cries of Zeyne, a Palestinian-Jordanian pop singer, are interwoven across the album’s soundtrack. Also making an appearance is Palestinian-Chilean artist Elyanna. Her radiantly uplifting cries emerge on “Allah Yihmeeki” alongside Levant’s and Kehlani’s.

Powerfully Yearning Fusions of Arab Pop and Traditional Instrumentals

The seamless code-switching of every song found on DEIRA is mirrored by its fluid fusion of traditional Palestinian music and other influences that span the globe. As Levant alternates between English, French, and Arabic alongside his guest collaborators, the music surrounding their earnest voices is one replete with everything from North African rhythms to Arab pop, each finding a shared home on his tracks. “Deira,” which showcases the sublime sounds of traditional instruments like the oud and darbuk, coalesces around Shaabi Arab.

Every entwining melody manifests as a spellbinding, propulsive, and touching expression of deep yearning. Most of the time, that longing is directed at an unreachable homeland, but the album also dips into the thrumming ebb and flow of romance.

Club-minded beats pulsate with inextinguishable passion, reflections on identity, and sincere attempts to become a person deserving of love. Yet it’s how Levant merges modern dance and pop with the spiraling strings, pattering percussion, and ecstatic Arabic vocals that results in its most transfixing moments.

Words: Steven Ward

Saint Levant will tour North America this summer and fall with a Los Angeles headline date at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood on Sept. 28.

ARTISTS YOU SHOULD KNOW

BEST NEW MUSIC