El Waili and Zaid Khaled Surprise Listeners with the Calm of ‘Sabyieh’

At first glance, when you see a collaboration between Zaid Khaled and El Waili, you’d perhaps expect an alternative R&B-inspired track, given their various previous collabs together. But in their new release ‘Sabyieh’, the duo surprises us with a track which leans towards electronica given the dominance of the beat taking precedence over bars or vocals.

Occasionally Zaid Khaled’s vocals do act as a melodic line, but the focus of the track is a production by El Waili that is as tranquil and mellow as it can get.

Kicking off with minimalist drums and a warm synth serving as the bed of the track before Zaid Khaled’s automated vocals hit the beat in a silky fashion, El Waili’s production goes on to take a spaced form of a spaced instrumental, a dramatic shift from his high-intensity, heavily filled beats.

A five-minute song, it hits just right as the soothing start to slow summer recovery mornings.