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“The Covid-19 pandemic punished Bosnians with a cruelty few other nations could imagine – the airborne virus forcing a people who already had lived with the trauma of hiding from an unseen enemy to, once again, isolate, hide away, not see the loved ones, live in fear of what was “out there”… How do artists deal with forced isolation? If you are Divanhana, Bosnia’s foremost sevdah band, then you focused on creating beauty in the way they knew best: making music. So to this album, the one that had been recorded in Slovenia in February 2020 – just before the pandemic hit – then mixed in Sarajevo across May – June 2021. The months between recording and mixing, when Sarajevo was once again suffering in silence, had provided space for contemplation and a renewed focus on what Divanhana want to express with their sevdah. While the forced isolation of lockdown was a challenge for all to endure, the members of Divanhana used 2020 as an opportunity to catch their breath – as a band who regularly tour across Bosnia, Turkey, Western Europe and the Canada, the pandemic’s enforced shutdown meant they had more time at home than at any point in the past decade. This allowed for reflection, time to think and listen widely and to work on ideas for new songs. Members of Divanhana did this individually while employing technology to stay in contact, to swap ideas and play music and engage with the possibilities of what might “be” when the world opened up. Once Bosnians were allowed to meet up again the members of Divanhana regrouped and listened to what they had recorded in Slovenia. Had their enforced isolation seen the band lose their passion to share sevdah with the world? Not at all! Instead, with renewed vigour and enthusiasm and all hungry to take their new music forth, Divanhana set about mixing this, the band’s fourth album. And what an album it has turned out to be! I believe it’s fair to say that Zavrzlama is not just Divanhana’s finest effort but one of the greatest sevdah albums of the post-war era.”
Garth Cartwright
