Souad Massi’s ‘Samt’ Bridges Tradition and Modernity

Algerian folk icon Souad Massi has just released her latest single, “Samt,” from her anticipated upcoming album Zagate, set for release on March 6th, 2026.

Massi’s rich legacy – marked by acclaimed albums such as Raoui, Deb, Mesk Elil, Oumniya, and O Houria – has long been defined by her signature purity: stripped-back folk sensibilities, acoustic intimacy, and gentle infusions of Raï and pop that never overshadowed the raw emotional core of her songwriting.

But ‘Samt’ marks a subtle shift in direction. The production leans into a fresher palette: funky guitar chords swinging across the track, an electronic drum beat replacing the familiar organic percussion, and an overall groove that feels noticeably bolder than the folky restraint that has shaped much of her career. Yet toward the end, the zurna pulls the song back to its roots – Berber, Algerian, North African, an unmistakably indigenous sound. So, it’s not a departure as much as an expansion: Massi stepping into a new, more rhythmic landscape while keeping her storytelling intact.

Lyrically, “Samt” stays rooted in the themes that have defined Massi’s voice for decades: solitude, melancholy, longing. The song carries the weight of a heavy heart, secrets that refuse to be spoken, a mind pulled between presence and absence, and questions left unanswered. It circles around the ache of lost connections – people who once filled the heart’s quiet spaces and now live only in memory.

Even the music video, directed by Yann Orhan, signals a shift in her visual language. It remains extremely simple, shot in a single location, but carries a new stylistic edge. Massi appears almost like a fortune teller singing her own fate, letting glitter-like sand slip through her hands before breaking into her lament. The imagery is minimal yet symbolic, and together with the song’s production, the whole package feels brand new.

Recetntly, on her Instagram, Souad Massi unveiled the cover for Zagate, which is strikingly experimental and unlike her previous soft-portrait covers, carrying deep layers of identity and cultural roots, with Berber-inspired appearance. Reflecting on the cover, Massi wrote:

 “This face that is mine, loaded with old roads, tamed wounds, and a light that no turmoil can extinguish. In this outfit from a place I carry inside me, a place without borders where memory meets the imaginary, I stand straight, lucid, determined. The line on my face is an inner line, a thread between silence and truth.” 

The album’s title, Zagate, adds another layer to this shift. The word echoes the French phrase ça se gâte, “things are getting worse.” Massi borrows the sound rather than the literal meaning, folding it into her own world. It hints at tension, uncertainty, and emotional shifts, while nodding to her Algerian-French cultural roots. Rather than a literal dictionary term, Zagate feels more like a mood – a subtle suggestion of change and unease, making it an intriguing choice for her upcoming record.