Sudanese-Italian singer Amira Kheir releases Black Diamonds – her fourth full length record and her most personal statement to date. It’s a powerful ode to her Sudanese heritage, building on the unique blend of musical styles that she has been forging since the release of her debut View From Somewhere.
Combining jazz, soul, rock and desert blues, Kheir’s sound touches on many bases, coming together in a unique way that is grounded in tradition and heritage, while also facing the future.
The release of Black Diamonds is hugely personal for Kheir. She describes it as “the culmination of deep reflections into the connection with my Sudanese and African ancestors, the relationship between ourselves and those who came before us and willed us into existence”.
Hailed by BBC World News as the ‘diva of the Sudanese desert’, Kheir has been beguiling audiences worldwide and building a devoted following since exploding onto the scene in 2011, developing her sound with each release.
The influences on her music are broad, giving listeners a taste of the rich musical heritage of Sudan and providing something of interest to fans of the globally popular Saharan desert blues style.
When asked about the artists that inspire her and make her who she is creatively, she lights up, saying “there are so many” – before listing “Prince, Aretha Franklin, Cassandra Wilson, Anita Baker and Meshell Ndegeocello” as being some of her biggest influences. Sudanese musicians such as “Abdel Aziz Mohamed Daoud and Hanan al-Neel” are of course also central to her creative world.
With her latest release, Kheir takes these influences and looks both inward and outward – ruminating on her personal journey and identity, while reflecting on the rich history and culture that she comes from.
One of the first singles from the album is ‘Sudani’, which Kheir describes as “a popular folk song that everyone knows and loves”. She adds poignantly that “I wanted to pay tribute to Sudan and Sudanese people and remember the promise that lives within our rich history”.
With opener ‘River’, she takes the listener to “the valley of dreamers”, delivering deeply soulful vocals in English against washes of synth and tight funky guitar licks. Throughout the set, Kheir deftly switches between Arabic, English and Italian, touching upon the cultures and influences that have shaped her.
Across the nine tracks that make up Black Diamonds, listeners are treated to Kheir’s most heartfelt and deeply personal work to date. Several albums into her career, we find her assured and full of experimentation. Other highlights on the album include the dizzying and virtuosic vocal performance on ‘Ti Sento (I hear you)’ and the gorgeous oud playing on ‘Sid Redi (The One I Adore)’.
This album is not to be missed by fans of adventurous fusions of African and western influences. For anyone familiar with Kheir’s work to date, Black Diamonds will provide much to explore and to love. For listeners new to her music, it is a perfect jumping off point into her distinct sonic world.
Black Diamonds is released on 10 October 2025 via Sterns Music.
