REVIEW: Souad Massi, Talking Gigs, Merlin Theatre, Sheffield.

She combines Arabic and African styles with Fado from Portugal alongside country and roots influences.

Massi, here performing with legendary percussionist Rabah Khalfa between chats to music writer Andy Morgan, sings songs about the things that are important to her.

She talks about how she started in a rock band before eventually fleeing the country in the 1990s after death threats.

That was because of the political nature of the band and its popularity. Killings and disappearances, sparked by the military government's “dirty war” with Islamists, instilled fear everywhere.

Massi’s life changed completely in 1999, when a French Algerian promoter invited her to perform at a Women of Algeria concert in Paris.

Massi is Berber and Muslim, but she defies classification.

Her career has been driven by a determination to stick to the values of freedom in its constant fight against injustice and her songs are about love, bravery and protest.

One in particular draws on a proverb from her grandmother to illustrate the battle between good and bad in the world.

Massi’s response to Islamophobia and the degraded image of Islam —including the specific threat posed by the Islamic State — is captured on her album El Mutakallimûn (Masters of the Word) in which she musically recreates a set of Arabic poems dating back to the sixth century.

The beauty of her voice reminds us of the creativity and knowledge that dominated previous Muslim generations which shaped the world around them.