Sour, dour and proud is the default setting at which we usually operate here deep in the recesses of Dandin towers so it’s exceedingly rare that we might find anything enchanting, rarer still that we’d admit it.

The artist that has forced our hand on both counts is Nadah El Shazly and if anyone could disarm you thirty seconds into one of their songs, it would be her.

Simply put, she’s got a lot in her musical locker. We could rattle off a long list that would include deft playing on the Saz, a fantastic voice, the lyricism of classical Arabic singing, the seamless merge of diffuse styles and a penchant for interesting electronic arrangements. But all that doesn’t matter, it’s what she does with it that makes it a whole lot more than the sum of its parts.

The result leaves you suitably enthralled. We’ve seen her perform many a time and the truth is she’s difficult to ignore, her voice and music has a way of encroaching on you (in a very good way).

What’s more, this isn’t even the end of it. There’s so much more to come as she continues to hone her sound and style, scarily, she’s just going to get better and better.

Whether in her solo work or her duet with Lebanese rapper El Rass on Athar Nawaa ‘The Atom’s Trail’ or her collaboration with Mohamed Shafik on the Shorba project, the talent is clearly evident and we await with bated breath what’s coming next.

Hear Nadah El Shazly on Dandin