Australian-born Wafia Al-Rikabi springs from releasing singles to the full bloom of her debut album, Promised Land, that sets the next steps towards her colorful career. Promised Land is an ethereal mingling of R&B, neo-soul, and indie pop genres that expresses her evolving story of finding belonging as she immigrates across planes.
The album drags you through a reflective journey that invites you to find peace and joy in unexpected places you can call home and people you can call family. There is a created narrative that explores existential themes such as migration and transitioning that echoes the resilience she bore in an ever-changing world.
The track, “The Summer Was Sweet,” opens the record with a short audio clip of an out-of-tune piano and humming that reminds me of looking back on past memories; setting up the song,
“Vision Of Love”. The lyrics open with yellow and blue, symbolizing her parents, with Wafia being in the middle, creating green, which describes her. “Vision of Love” delivers Wafia’s message of her bliss and naive youth without the knowledge of migrating to different locations, wishing she appreciated her moments before transition occurred from childhood.
“Something” dives deeper in her migration from childhood as she begins exploring the beauty of seizing the now with no need for tangible things or promises of the future. She contemplates the joy of being present completely, especially when shared with someone loved. “Something” combines indie pop and electronic elements to create a lively and dreamy atmosphere. The instrumental features infectious synths and pulsating beats that mirror the song’s messages of excitement and possibility in finding love within people.
My favorite track on the album is “Dragonfly,” as she compares her family to dragonflies. Wafia drew inspiration from the migrations of dragonflies, creatures that embark on odysseys spanning generations. It is a metaphor for the lives of many immigrant families, Wafia’s included, in which the dreams of one generation are passed on and realized by another. The lyrics of the song capture an intense sense of duty and hope, reiterating the sacrifices made in order to give future generations a “soft place to land.” The tale touches on the universal hope to provide children with better lives, even if the payoff for such effort initially does not materialize.
“Say It To The Moon” was composed in this album in honor of her younger sister, describing the trials and emotions of maintaining a close bond despite being geographically far apart. The moon is utilized as a metaphor, symbolizing something that remains the same and shared, so that the two sisters can speak of no matter how far they are from each other. Wafia employs upbeat instrumentals and neo-soul melodies that connect her longing for connection and aid listeners in immersing themselves into her emotional narrative.
Wafia closes out ‘Promised Land’ with “Read Me” because it’s the emotional and thematic peak of the album. It’s where she’s finally being vulnerable, and where she’s finally embracing herself and inviting others to do the same. She leaves the listener with a sense of closure by placing it at the end of the album as a last letter that intimately implies that she has reached a point where she no longer hides behind metaphors or guarded emotions; this is her, fully seen and fully known ending the song with the following, “I hope that you’d stay and think of me fondly.”
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