Hyperdub will release Grace, the new EP from Philadelphia’s DJ Haram.

Through her music, DJ Haram ties her New Jersey musical history with more recent involvement in the Philadelphia DIY noise scene, without forgetting her Middle Eastern roots. A close affiliate of New York’s Discwoman collective, she is also one half of 700 Bliss alongside rapper and poet Moor Mother, who features on this EP. 

Haram began writing Grace after a family tragedy which led to “a transitional time of devastation and rebuilding.” In response, she began to create a “small mythological world that was a dramatized reflection of her own.” Each song is represented by a character, as seen on the EP’s sleeve, inspired by “types of Jinn in Islam, Quranic stories of angels, with some of the creatures coming from Haram’s own imagination.” 

The music is guided by the rhythm of the Darbuka drums. “I usually write the Darbuka drum rhythm first,” Haram says. “If each track is a body, the drums would be the energetic component at the core of every bodily system, the invisible soul and feeling, and the melodies, effects, dynamics, pitch, all those considerations are like the flesh, organs, bloodstream.”

 The artwork is by Samantha Garritano. 

Tracklisting

01. No Idol

02. Interlude

03. Gemini Rising

04. Body Count

05. Candle Light (700 Bliss Remix)

06. Grace (K.O.D)

07. Candle Light (Instrumental)

08. No Idol (Remix)

Grace lands on July 5, with “Gemini Rising” streaming below.