Sardy Fardy, composed by Ayman Asfour, grew out of a single idea: to write melodies inspired by Egyptian musical heritage, set inside a rhythmic framework built on odd meters (rhythms whose basic count is an odd number). The captivating result: familiar melodies molded into unfamiliar rhythmic shapes. These Egyptian melodic phrases share the ability to tell a story, giving voice to feelings like joy, sorrow, longing, and love. The tension in this unfamiliar combination of melody and rhythm evokes an older sensibility, one heard in some of Sayed Darwish's muwashahat and in the instrumental preludes of Mohamed Abdel Wahab and Baligh Hamdi. And yet, each composition explores how this friction between melody and rhythm creates unexpected potential for experimentation and new sounds.

The album's six tracks were composed and recorded across two cities: the first three in Asfour's home city of Alexandria, Egypt, with a group of longtime friends and collaborators, and the second three in Brooklyn, inspired by and developed with many talented musicians in New York’s Arabic music scene (credited by track below).

The album's mesmerizing concept crystallizes in the first half, developing a sound that is deeply rooted in the familiar and yet unexpectedly contemporary. In the second half of the album, Asfour's compositions spin off in unexpected directions, offering a novel and expansive approach to classic Arabic maqam, incorporating jazz and experimental sounds.

released July 23, 2026