After years of mounting success, part-Palestinian artist Saint Levant has finally released his debut album, titled Deira. Eponymously named after a hotel his father once owned in Gaza— which has since been reduced to rubble following recent Israeli aggressions—the 8-track-long project serves as a tribute to the singer’s own upbringing while touching on a slew of personal topics ranging from love, displacement, identity, and culture.
Long hoped for and now finally available to stream, the rising star’s first magnum opus boasts an impressive list of renowned collaborators, including American hitmaker Kehlani, North African lyricist TIF, Algerian Rai legend Cheb Bilal, as well as Palestinian icons MC Abdul and Elyanna. But that’s not all. The album also features background vocals from Palestinian-Jordanian artist Zeyne and Gaza-based musicians Sol Band.
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Speaking on the importance of this release, Saint Levant revealed that “Deira embodies multiple journeys for (him).
“The project’s title evokes a hotel overlooking the sea in Al-Rimal, Gaza City, designed and operated by my father since 2001. Al Deira Hotel was one of the most beautiful structures in the city and the place I called home as a child– it has since been destroyed by IDF bombings in late 2023. Through the visual language of the project, the hotel is imagined as a locale of return: a destination where I will return to; a landmark symbolizing a free Palestine,” he explained via a shared statement.
“All Palestinian art from the last 75 years, whether Sliman Mansour’s paintings or Ghassan Kanafani’s poetry, always begins before the artist and always at the same point in time: the Nakba of 1948. Since then, the journey of catastrophe, displacement, and exile after 1948 is one every Palestinian continues to take, constantly dreaming of return and using whatever means of resistance along the way until rooted once more on their land,” he added.
Expected to meet, and hopefully surpass, the impressive numbers achieved since the start of his promising career, each track on the album demonstrates his growth and versatility as an artist, cementing his position as a catalyzing power that is here to stay. Proving that he is anything but an internet sensation, it’s crucial to appreciate all the work and efforts put in by Levant since the start of his journey, reminding us that one can stay true to their values and vision no matter the circumstances or surrounding pressure to stay silent on conversations that need to be held.
Since 2020, the 24-year-old has made it his mission to put both Palestine and the region at the forefront of the global music scene. Despite facing scrutiny and occasional backlash for some of the ways he conveys his message, his persona is now synonymous with integrity and perseverance, having almost single-handedly reshaped how artists should engage with societal issues through art in modern times.
