Oct 22, 2026 · 42 min
Alsarah turns displacement into Sudanese musical memory
Alsarah & The Nubatones: East African Retro Pop Band Performs at Democracy Now!
The conversation shows how songs can preserve language, desire, and political memory amid war, migration, and border repression.
- 1Alsarah traces her music to displacement between Sudan, Yemen, and the United States, where family history and activism remain inseparable.
- 2The Nubatones’ albums use Nubian language, inherited traditions, and East African retropop to reclaim identity and preserve cultural memory.
- 3Songs about love and desire carry revolutionary hope, even when war, detention, immigration enforcement, and regional conflict shape daily life.
Don't miss
Alsarah performs “Ayan Taban,” a song of joy and hope dedicated to someone leaving to fight amid bombing.
The brief
Alsarah introduces the Nubatones and the musical world they call East African retropop, rooted in Sudanese and Nubian heritage, migration, and long-standing relationships.
Her family’s displacement from Sudan to Yemen and then the United States frames music as more than expression: it becomes a way to carry history through political violence and exile.
From a clandestine cassette to Seasons of the Road, Alsarah describes songs as vessels for revolutionary memory, inherited knowledge, and an inner fire that survives repression.
The band’s repertoire turns language and desire into acts of reclamation, from teaching herself “Nuba Nuto” to celebrating women’s agency in “Habibi Taal.”
Touring during Europe’s refugee crisis exposed the contradiction at the heart of Manara: being welcomed onstage while facing suspicion, detention, and border enforcement offstage.
“Ayan Taban” offers the episode’s clearest emotional counterpoint, finding joy and hope in a love song dedicated to someone leaving to fight amid bombing.
Weekly email
State of the Pod, every Monday
The week's most-discussed names and stories from podcasts, with the moments behind them. Free, five minutes, unsubscribe in one click.