Ayman Rostom, better known as The Maghreban, will release his second album in July.
Rostom, a native of Guildford, England with Egyptian and Saudi heritage, has been working on Connection since 01DEAS, his last album, came out in 2018. While he says he could have tried to come up with “some grand narrative to give it meaning,” it’s just some deeper tracks that he made that he thinks sit together well.
We’re also told that there are Middle Eastern, jazz, and techno influences in some of the songs, and that he was trying to make stuff that was “a little more emotive.”
The album is called Connection because Rostom was seeking to become more comfortable with connection whilst making it, rather than keeping himself to himself. But the flip-side of that was a deeper awareness of grief and sorrow, which is why some of the tracks have “an air of sadness,” he says.
It features collaborations with rapper Nah Eeto, plus Abdullah Miniawy, Idris Rahman, and Omar. Rostom worked with Matt Littler again for the artwork. “I told him ‘less grotesque, more serious,’ compared to the last LP,” Rostom says. “Maybe that’s also what I was going for with the music!”
Over a storied career that spans more than three decades and various different aliases, Rostom has tried his hand at his fair share of genres. Though he’s spent the majority of his journey in music releasing jungle 12″s under his own name or abrasive hip-hop beats as Doctor Zygote, he’s made the most noise as The Maghreban, an alias he launched in 2014 dedicated to his dancefloor-ready house and its various curious offshoots. You can read more about his work in his XLR8R podcast here.
Tracklisting
01. Moving
02. Got Your Number feat. Nah Eeto
03. Synanon
04. Anzilli feat. Abdullah Miniawy
05. Celebratory Relapse feat. Idris Rahman
06. Waiting feat. Omar
07. Baby
08. Without You
09. Black Seed Oil feat. Idris Rahman
10. Moving On
Connection LP is scheduled for July 15 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “Got Your Number” feat. Nah Eeto in full below and pre-order here.
