"The work endures as an act of solidarity; evidence that creative possibilities can be endless, even when trapped and in despair"
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
"Beautiful and sobering...and important story to tell”
DOOBEDOOBEDOO NEW YORK
"A sombrely beautiful album"
SONGLINES UK
"The result is a very fine album showcasing the poet’s enormous skill at his art, complemented by outstanding musicians whose work melds into the spoken words to create a unified whole."
THE MUSIC TRUST
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
"Beautiful and sobering...and important story to tell”
DOOBEDOOBEDOO NEW YORK
"A sombrely beautiful album"
SONGLINES UK
"The result is a very fine album showcasing the poet’s enormous skill at his art, complemented by outstanding musicians whose work melds into the spoken words to create a unified whole."
THE MUSIC TRUST
Set Me Free is an album collaboration between 9 years detained Arab Ahwazi refugee poet-artist Jalal Mahamede and Australian Art Music Award finalist Keyna Wilkins, working via zoom from his detention cell, with 19 special guest musicians. It is a musical setting of 12 of his spoken poems. Jalal was never charged or tried, but was indefinitely detained for arriving in Australia by boat and seeking protection.
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Set Me Free was launched in November 2021 to sold out crowds at the popular Sydney venue Lazybones and at West End Church venue to Brisbane and is available on all streaming platforms. He was released 2 weeks after the album launch. A book of his illustrated poetry My Tears Will Calm The Sun will soon to be published by Tangerine Books with a Foreword by arts journalist and Walkley Award winner, John Shand. He has been featured on ABC Radio National, Sydney Morning Herald, DooBeDooBeDoo New York, Songlines UK, Verity La arts journal, Limelight Magazine, Resonate Magazine, Sense Music Media, Sounds Like Sydney, Blue Mountains Radio, New Zealand Bent Ear Spoken Poetry magazine, Studies in Social Justice Magazine Canada, Blue Pepper Poetry, Living Composer Podcast, Paradigm Shift Radio, Skid Row Radio, Eastside Radio and Sydney Today. It is widely believed the album contributed to his release.
The album was made in Sydney COVID lockdown 2021 with each musician recording themselves improvising in their homes, curated by Wilkins and sound engineered and mastered by Matt Stewart from A Sharp Studios. The album was launched to sold out 120 person strong crowd in popular Sydney live music venue Lazybones and introduced by Dr Graham Thom from Amnesty International Australia, and in Brisbane at West End Church, with Jalal attending via zoom from his prison cell. It is a companion to My Tears Will Calm The Sun, a 127 page book of his illustrated poetry, published by Tangerine Books in 2022 after his release. Keyna and Jalal performed some poetry and music collaborations at his book launch at Avid Reader Bookshop in Brisbane.
The album was made in Sydney COVID lockdown 2021 with each musician recording themselves improvising in their homes, curated by Wilkins and sound engineered and mastered by Matt Stewart from A Sharp Studios. The album was launched to sold out 120 person strong crowd in popular Sydney live music venue Lazybones and introduced by Dr Graham Thom from Amnesty International Australia, and in Brisbane at West End Church, with Jalal attending via zoom from his prison cell. It is a companion to My Tears Will Calm The Sun, a 127 page book of his illustrated poetry, published by Tangerine Books in 2022 after his release. Keyna and Jalal performed some poetry and music collaborations at his book launch at Avid Reader Bookshop in Brisbane.
Special guest musicians featured on the album are Elsen Price, Carl St Jacques, Will Gilbert, Susie Bishop, Laura Bishop, Gumaroy Newman, Shane Carpini, Rhyan Clapham (AKA Dobby), Jenny Eriksson, Byron Mark, Emanuel Lieberfreund, Karen Cortez, Dawn Barrington, Connor Malanos, Josh Shipton, Isaac Lombard, Elliot Lombard, Sol Rosen and Lyra Rosen. Mixed and mastered by Matt Stewart from A Sharp Studios, with stunning album cover design by Maryann Hine using Jalal's art.
Jalal was held by the Australian government for 9 years for arriving by boat and seeking protection. He draws from his personal experience to express his moods, feelings and visions through art and language, influenced by his late father Kazem Mahamede, a renowned travelling poet and photographer. The region of Ahwaz has significantly diminished in recent times due to land seizures by the Iranian government. Ahwaz people are a persecuted minority and continue to be subjected to many forms of discrimination. During his 9 years detention, he was held for 6 years on Nauru and 7 months on Christmas Island. Doctors Without Borders described conditions in Nauru refugee camps as "beyond desperate", UNHCR described it as "some of the worst conditions seen" and Amnesty International describes them as "cruel and extreme". During his long-term confinement, in often horrific conditions, Jalal has experienced serious mental health issues, as well as suffering a vicious attack on Nauru. His poetry and art are about these experiences.
In conclusion, the Set Me Free album project and launch interrogated, extended and challenged normal practice in a number of ways. Firstly by making an album of 21 people who made it entirely remotely during Sydney lockdown, and secondly by using music as a tool to raise awareness of human rights abuses in Australia and ultimately free an innocent man from prison. Though the Immigration Minister never has to explain their decisions to release refugee detainees, as Mahamede was imprisoned for 9 years previously and had failed 20 court cases for his release, it is widely believed that his release was at least in part due to the album and all the positive high profile publicity around it including ABC, Sydney Morning Herald, Limelight and many other poetry and music magazines.
