Musicians from Bosnia and Herzegovina who nurture the sevdah sound through their work are more and more popular and recognized in the world. This is confirmed by the recent recognition of the band Divanhana, whose album "Zavrzlama" was rated as the best in the first half of 2022 by the panel of leading radio authors of the World music program in Europe - WMCE.
The members of the mentioned composition do not hide that this is a great success and recognition, and they reminded that after the release of "Zavrzlama" it was at the top of the mentioned list for two consecutive months.
"Zavrzlama" was released at the end of January and brought 11 new songs, but they did not expect such a quick success.
"We released our fourth studio album with the symbolic name 'Zavrzlama' on January 28 this year, and the release was taken over by the German publishing house CPL Music, as well as, for our region, Belgrade's Multimedia Music. We worked on the album for a long time, dedicatedly, approached the material studiously and researching, and thanks to the genius of the producer Janez Križaj who guided us through the complete creative process, we got as a result a CD release that, it can already be said evidently, touched the hearts not only of 'our' people from the Balkans, but also far beyond. Thus, the panel composed of the most influential radio editors of World Music Chats Europe, which declared our album number 1 on its list for two consecutive months, recently summed up that success by declaring 'Zavrzlama' the best album according to the assessment of its expert jury for the first half of 2022. years. In addition, the British World Music Magazine Songlines included this album in the Top of the World album of the year competition," recalled keyboardist and founder of Divanhana Neven Tunjić.
"Of course, when I go back to the initial perspective where we were just working on the material and realized it in the Metro studio in Ljubljana, we could not even imagine where that journey and all that music would take us today", he admits.
They worked on this album for four years and it represents a new era when it comes to the band Divanhana. Namely, in addition to the covers for which they are known, he also brought five original songs. When asked how the audience at home accepted the new sevdah brought by the album "Zavrzlama" and which song stood out in particular, Neven answers:
"The album is the product of many years of development of the band, evolution in the musical sense and determination in the moral sense, to indulge in original music. "Zavrzlama" is really a new beginning, and only time will tell if the turn in our career came at the right time, and if the audience approves of it. Time will also tell if our author's music from "Zavrzlama" entered the souls of people so that they could live in the time yet to come."
European and world radio panels put "Zavrzlam" at the very top. And last year, the singer-songwriter from Bosnia and Herzegovina Damir Imamovic he won numerous awards with his album, so Tunjić is of the opinion that the world is slowly opening up to sevdah.
"The world began to open up to sevdah about 20 years ago, when the Mostar Sevdah Reunion, in its own way, brought our traditional song across the threshold of our homeland. Since then, until today, all of us on our sevdah 'scene', with joint effort, work and commitment, work on the mission to affirm and position sevdah in the world at a high level, along with some of the most popular traditional music styles such as fado, flamenco or blues. It is quite certain that the confessions of Damir, or the ones before To which, and even now Divanhane, all the same steps towards that goal", Tunjić is sure.
They recently promoted the single "Lola" from the album. This is another author's song. She announced the departure of the former singer Šejla Grgić from the band and arrival Selma Doce, and he's sure fans will embrace the changes.
"Yes, the song 'Lola' in a way announced our parting with member Šeila, who spent a really successful and happy four years of work with our collective. That's why we chose the cheerful and bubbly 'Lola' for this occasion, because it's really a happy parting. We always parted with our former members in love and with love, so it was the same this time. Every departure of our previous colleagues was solely their decision, desire and need to continue walking on their own path where their heart takes them. We are looking forward to a new chapter with our Selma, where one thing is for sure - that we will write new notes and arrangements for our esteemed audience with a whole heart and a lot of love. I am sure that they will give us back the same dose of love, and sing each new melody at the top of their voices", the "Vijesti" interlocutor is sure.
Each new member, especially the frontman, brings new energy to the band. What is it that Selma brought to Divanhana as a new singer, Tunjić reveals:
"New energy, ideas and desire for creativity. With Selma, we are only at the beginning of our creativity, so let's leave it to everyone's imagination where Divanhana will go with the new member and how our notes will sound in the future", he points out, and promises that the change in the line-up will not slow down the promotion of the album, which became quite heated when they concerts in question.
"We, together with Shejla and Selma, planned this move together and strategically, and we had enough time and space so that the change in composition does not negatively affect the performance of our small team in any way. Indeed, Divanhana, during the time that is behind us, acted more as a musical institution than as a composition or a band. We probably discovered that somewhere along the way; that it is more natural to act as an institution that will gather talented, hardworking people full of new ideas. The idea remains the same - to spread sevdah and love, and the new members only refine that idea further", concludes Tunjić.
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