Monsieur Doumani

The Cypriot trio have no need for influential agents or record companies and have little interest in musical trends, yet are still earning rave reviews. After the release of their debut album, Grippy Grappa, in 2013, they were dubbed 'Best Newcomer Group' by Songlines magazine, which also awarded them the prize for 'Best European Group' for Sikoses, released two years later. Their true breakthrough, however, came with the 2018 Angathin, which has enjoyed three months at the top of influential music charts like the Transglobal World Music Chart and the World Music Charts Europe. The songs of Monsieur Doumani were therefore the most played across European world music radio stations in the spring of 2018.
The group, who have been together since 2011, initially played folk music covers, but their latest album mainly consists of self-written songs. Angelos Ionas plays acoustic guitar, Antonis Antoniou the tzouras (a type of bouzouki) and Demetris Yiasemides the trombone. Their sound is very much their own. The lead is taken by the tzouras, providing a musical ¬rhythm which recalls urban Greek folk music, particularly contemporary rebetiko. The fact that the members of the trio once played in rock and jazz bands also shines through in their music. Their songs are not just fresh but incredibly varied, as well as featuring a certain prickliness which reflects the political and economic tension in divided Cyprus. Angathin translates as thorn, after all...