I came across something a little different. I wasn’t sure what to expect of something calling itself British Muslim Song. I’m always a little 
cautious around English nasheed offerings because so many well-meaning creations are just bad translations with cringe-worthy lyrics. I’m sorry Sami Yusuf, you have a lovely voice and I’m sure you’re a jolly-nice-fellow but some of your rhymes are verging on the criminal.
And then there’s also that British Muslim choir, Harmonia Alcorani, at the opposite spectrum. They have some decent lyrics, but I can’t stand that choir-boy warbling. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not being prejudicialist. I was once an unlikely member of the school choir myself I’ll have you know, and have squawked my way through many a ‘Morning Has Broken’ and ‘When a Knight Won His Spurs’ (tho you’ll be relieved to hear you won’t catch me auditioning for Britain’s Got Talent, like some kind of hijabi-Susan-Boyle ::shudder::). All that high-pitched soprano warbling leaves me cold. Deep bass Gregorian chanting is a little more palatable, but I couldn’t take a whole album.
Anyhow, when I came across a free download of ‘He who Seeks (Nihavend No.34)’, sung by that very-nice-chap Dawud Wharnsby, I was a wee bit wary. At first hearing I mulled over its unfamiliar style and decided that it was different, but I wasn’t sure if I actually liked it. To give it a fair go I replayed it a couple of times…until I finally forgave it its novelty, and found myself truly moved. I think it hints at folk music rather than straight-up choir, which probably helps. So despite my initial mis-givings I have to say it’s really grown on me and I hope there’ll be more to come. Just keep the pitch low and manly, and leave out the nightingales and roasted larks.
