When Smoke Rises


When Smoke Rises is the debut EP by Canadian musician and poet Mustafa. It was released on May 28, 2021, through Mustafa's Regent Park Songs imprint. The album was produced by frequent collaborator and executive producer Frank Dukes with contributions from James Blake, Jamie xx, and Sampha, among others. The songs "Stay Alive", "Air Forces", "Ali", and "The Hearse" were released as singles prior to the album's release. The album is self-described as 'inner city folk music' and is thematically centered on Toronto's Regent Park community.
The album was shortlisted for the 2021 Polaris Music Prize.

Production

Mustafa began working on demos in the late 2010s. Formal songwriting for the album began in 2019 in London with Swedish producer Simon Hessman also known as . Following the songwriting process, frequent collaborator Frank Dukes came in to produce the album. His production was inspired by the Smithsonian Folkways anthologies of Sudanese and Egyptian music which he samples throughout the record. Additionally, tracks on the album were produced by London-based musicians James Blake, who contributed to "Stay Alive" and "Come Back", and Jamie xx, who produced "Air Forces" and "The Hearse".
Mustafa has noted that the songwriting of the record was influenced by Richie Havens, Joni Mitchell, and Leonard Cohen, as well as Sufjan Stevens' 2015 album Carrie & Lowell.
The album's name is in reference to Smoke Dawg who is featured on the cover art alongside Mustafa.

Release and promotion

When Smoke Rises was released on May 28, 2021, fourteen months after the first single "Stay Alive" was released. It was released independently by Mustafa under the name Regent Park Songs and distributed by Beggars Group. A limited edition of the album pressed as different colour vinyl records was released by a number of independent record stores including Rough Trade and VMP.
Mustafa appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on May 27, 2021, to promote the release of the record. In the year leading up the release, Mustafa received significant press coverage, including profiles by The New York Times, GQ Middle East, Pitchfork, and American Songwriter.
Overall, the album received generally favourable reviews from critics, with particularly positive support from Canadian publications like ''Exclaim!''

Track listing

Songwriting credits adapted from SOCAN and liner notes.
Notes
  • signifies a co-producer.
  • signifies an additional producer.
  • "Stay Alive" features backing vocals by Sampha.
  • "Air Forces" features uncredited background vocals by Frank Dukes.
  • "Separate" features additional vocals from Fatima Ali and cityboymoe.
  • "What About Heaven" features backing vocals by Sampha.
  • "Come Back" features backing vocals by James Blake.
Sample credits
  • "Air Forces" contains samples of "Heaven Help the Child", written and performed by Mickey Newbury; "The Age-Set" by Dinka People of Abyei from Music of the Sudan: The Role of Song and Dance in Dinka Society.
  • "The Hearse" contains a sample of "The Spreading Horns" by Wife of the Paramount Chief from Music of the Sudan: The Role of Song and Dance in Dinka Society.
  • "What About Heaven" contains samples of "Allah" from The Music of Upper and Lower Egypt; "The Tribe of Babo" by Dinka People of Abyei from Music of the Sudan: The Role of Song and Dance in Dinka Society.

    Personnel

Adapted from TIDAL, Jaxsta, and liner notes.
Musicians
  • Mustafa – vocals
  • Ben Reed – bass guitar
  • cityboymoe – additional vocals
  • David Wrench – additional music
  • Dylan Wiggins – keyboards
  • Fatima Ali – additional vocals
  • Frank Dukes – synth ; drum programming ; programming ; guitar
  • James Blake – synth ; vocals, piano
  • Jamie xx – synth ; programming
  • Matthew Tavares – guitar ; synth
  • Nate Mercereau – bass guitar, horns
  • Pete SCUM Nebula – arranger, programming, drum programming
  • Rodaidh McDonald – synth
  • Sampha – featured vocals ; backing vocals ; piano ; bongos
  • Simon Hessman – guitar ; synth bass
  • Teo Halm – bass guitar
Spoken word and dialogue
Technical
  • Manny Marroquin – mixing
  • David Wrench – mixing
  • Chris Galland – mix engineer
  • Jeremie Inhaber – assistant mix engineer
  • Robin Florent – assistant mix engineer
  • Scott Desmarais – assistant mix engineer
  • Emerson Mancini – mastering
  • Matt Colton – mastering