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EMEL - LIVE IN TORONTO
Making her highly anticipated Canada debut of MRA, the iconic EMEL MATHLOUTHI آمال المثلوثي invites you to a world of resilience and unity on the powerful, salvific, and feminist MRA.
Join us in Toronto on April 5th @ TD Music Hall. Tickets are available now.
“[‘MRA’ is] a feat of ground- breaking production” - Vogue Arabia
“Emel Mathlouthi is The 21st Century's Catalyst for change.” - NPR
Emel Mathlouthi, known as Emel is a Tunisian-American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger and producer. She rose to fame with her protest song "Kelmti Horra" ("My Word is Free"), which became an anthem for the Tunisian revolution and the Arab Spring. Since her debut in 2012 with Kelmti Horra, EMEL has released intense, revolutionary music.
“..like an Arabic cousin of Björk…Protest music rarely comes in such a glossy, glamorous package” - The Times
“EMEL is a remarkable voice... her art-pop elixir blends future-pop tendencies with a deep awareness of her North African roots” - CLASH
On her newest album, MRA, meaning “woman” in Arabic, is an ode to femininity and sisterhood. EMEL deconstructs to rebuild, boldly pressing forward her vision of a female-driven paradigm shift in a world in desperate need of one. That is why every single collaborator on MRA, from producers, featured artists, musicians, and beyond, is a woman — marginalized in recognition, but outsized in ability.
“Emel Mathlouthi’s vision of protest music is searingly contemporary... Her strident voice mixes with haunting minor scales and traditional North African instruments and rhythms, thundering beats and incendiary electronic textures abounded.” - Pitchfork
With the help of artists such as Camélia Jordana, Nayomi, and Alyona Alyona, the result is a multi-genre meld where African trap, batucada, Arabic reggaeton, hip hop, and drum n’ bass rub shoulders seamlessly with vibrant melodies and empowering lyrics sung in 5 different languages & 3 dialects. Having worked alongside such formidable visionaries as Iranian filmmaker Shirin Neshat, and multimedia artist Laurie Anderson, EMEL knows the mutually beneficial strength forged by working with women, sharing a platform and trusting one another. “I've come to discover the true meaning of sisterhood. I'm not interested in the inherited feeling that other women are my rivals anymore,” she says. “I want us to change the system from within by and through women. We are building a new structure, writing a new story where we reclaim the women’s voice and her power.
ABOUT EMEL
Growing up in Tunisia, EMEL listened to everything from classical music to Art Tatum to Celine Dion. After performing in a metal band as a teen, she discovered Joan Baez and the quiet intensity of protest songs. “I was never drawn in the beginning to Arabic music, because I thought it was too rigid,” she says. Interestingly, the dictatorship there was so self centered and assured of its efforts to scare off any rebellion , that they didn’t really see the wind changing and a new generation of ideas emerging. As she explains, “Music was very liberating. To me It had to be revolutionary.” Although she was not free to perform, suffice it to say, EMEL — who had been writing songs since age 10 — would not be silenced, ultimately moving to Paris in 2008, serving as an artist-in-residence at La Cité internationale des Art.
In 2010, EMEL was named the voice of the Arab Spring when her folk-hymnal “Kelmti Horra (My Word Is Free),” once banned, was resurrected as a protest anthem. She’d go on to perform the track at the Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo. 2 years later, Among International touring in over 25 countries, she played an underground concert in Baghdad, Iraq, and a few years after that, a highly illegal, all-women performance in Iran, as chronicled in the documentary No Land’s Song. (“Music protects me,” she says now, when asked if she’s ever scared to play in these contexts.) And just this past summer, she performed for Palestinians, who are the subject of her track “Naci En Palestina (I Was Born in Palestine),” in East Jerusalem and the West Bank facing threats and enormous backlash. “My father always taught me to stand up for what's right,” she explains, “about justice, empathy and truth.”
“I’ve always dreamed of reaching people’s hearts, but I ultimately support them in owning their destiny and claiming their path,” EMEL says. “I am a privileged person, because I have my voice and power in music and songs. When I see how much impact my music has had in some parts of the world and how much my songs have helped people in their quest for freedom, I feel really grateful.” MRA is as much about using her voice as it is a rally cry that her fellow women do so freely, with the same opportunities and in the same spaces as their male counterparts. “I don't create things to be consumed,” she continues. “I hope it transcends time, transcends boundaries, transcends cultures. Music can change the world.”
EMEL Online:
OPENING SUPPORT
SHEN (DJ SET)
Hailing from Cairo and Dubai, and currently making waves in Toronto's dynamic music scene. With a profound appreciation for both traditional and modern music, Shen’s performances serve as a bridge between diverse musical worlds, uniting sounds from the East and the West, the past and the present.
Having embraced Toronto as his current home, Shen has become a fixture in the city's nightlife. He has featured at renowned venues such as El Mocambo, Velvet Underground, Tapestry, Bar St. Lo, Pamenar, and the W Toronto, showcasing his talent for crafting seamless mixes that captivate audiences, taking them on a sonic expedition through emotions and cultures.
When he’s not behind the DJ decks, Shen is a full time music curator for BELLOSOUND. Constantly crafting playlists for hospitality, retail, and other luxury clients from Palo Alto to Riyadh.
With each performance, Shen hopes to spread the message of unity and camaraderie through music, reminding us all of the universal language that is music.
Shen online:
LEEN X MXK
MXK is a Toronto-based Lebanese DJ/producer and drummer who makes sounds for self-expression. Inspired by his roots as a metal drummer and re-discovering his connection to the sounds of his native region, MXK produces electronic music that captures the essence of both worlds that make him feel and move.
MXK online:
LEEN is a newcomer artist from Syria. Over the past five years, music provided her with a safe space and strength. Singing gave her the power she needed to express her identity and to connect to her soul, home and family she left behind. Leen started her music education at the age of 8 at the Arabic institute of Aleppo. After arriving to Canada, her passion for classical Arabic led her to the Canadian Arabic Orchestra, where she has been performing as a choir singer since 2017. Her latest project “Kazdoura”, serves up Arabic fusion with a modern twist.
Leen online:
GUEST PERFORMER
NEDA MOHAMADPOUR
Neda Mohammadpour is a vocalist deeply rooted in Persian and Middle Eastern folk traditions, blending them with global influences. Originally from Tehran, Iran, she was trained in Persian traditional maqam music under the guidance of renowned artists Simin Ghanem and Malihe Moradi. Her singing embraces improvisation, microtonal nuances, and deep emotional expression, creating a bridge between the past and the present. She explores music as both a personal and collective storytelling medium, whether through fully improvised performances or reimagining rare vintage recordings from Tehran’s musical history. Since relocating to Canada, Neda has performed across various Toronto venues, collaborating with diverse musicians. Her work includes joining Link Music Lab’s Experimental Series, where she blends Persian folk vocals with electronic and experimental soundscapes. Her latest project, Persian Alchemy, is a fully improvised exploration of Persian maqam, experimental textures, and trance-like rhythmic cycles, drawing inspiration from Persian classical vocal traditions, Indian tala, and psychedelic folk. The project will be released as an album in the upcoming months.
She is also the vocalist for Opa Yala, a band where she feeds her love for vintage psychedelic Middle Eastern, Turkish, and Persian folk, bringing these sounds back to life with a fresh energy. This passion for rare and forgotten music led her to create Tehran to Toronto, an ongoing project in collaboration with Local Dish, a record label dedicated to reviving songs on 45 RPM vinyl. The project first began when Neda was still in Iran, playing music in secrecy as a female singer alongside other independent musicians in downtown Tehran. Now, she continues to build this bridge between artists from Tehran and Toronto, fostering collaborations that reconnect her to her hometown.
Neda online
This show is presented by MARSM Canada x LINK Music Lab
Experimental Link Series contemplates the Persian-Canadian experience by reinvigorating, re-exploring and re-imagining world music within contemporary and cosmopolitan Toronto by inviting different musicians from the diaspora to collaborate and perform together. The series will explore connections between identity, culture, and musical creation.
Link Music Lab gratefully acknowledges the generous support of Canadian Heritage and the Canada Council for the Arts.