Radio Sevdah

“Sarajevo, where Divanhana is based, is a dramatic and inspiring city where occident and orient mix. Minarets of mosques and spires and domes of catholic and orthodox churches are jumbled alongside each other in the city centre. It’s surrounded by mountains which are always visible from the vibrant Baščaršija, the old city at its heart. With two Divanhana members, composer and leader Neven Tunjić and singer Selma Droce, I go to Radio Bosnia and Herzegovina. It’s a brutalist 1970s building that seems in a time warp, yet inside there’s an invaluable archive of recordings which Divanhana have drawn on for this album. Radio Sevdah is a tribute to the radio as a place where many of the greatest sevdah artists were recorded and the music disseminated to a wider audience. Inside there’s which respectfully looks back at the tradition, but resolutely intends to carry it on. “Many singers recorded such great things here that we listen to them like references for what we do,” says Selma. “The radio station was a meeting point of many emotions, there’s a feeling of love and good energy”.  The moods on this album are many and varied – from the melancholy of the opening ‘Biglišu slavuji’, to the playful ‘Rijekama’, the rap – infused ‘Sa Igmana pogledat je lijepo’ and the cosmic ‘Molitva’.
 Radio Sevdah underlines Divanhana’s role as one of Bosnia’s most interesting bands, looking back over sevdah’s rich tradition and taking it in new and ever surprising directions.”

Simon Broughton