zekreet album

A  first-of-its-kind vinyl double album titled ‘Zekreet’ was released by ‘Sonic Jeel’, an artist collective made up of students, faculty and alumni from VCUarts Qatar.

The eye-catching artworks for the outer and inner covers include a 3D animation, while the vinyl records featuring 21 audio tracks, are in translucent, decorated shades. The album was launched at a pop-up stall at Studio 7 in Msheireb Downtown Doha (MDD), last week. The striking designs for the covers were created by ‘water with water’, an experimental graphic publishing initiative, and will be on public sale at Studio 7, and at ‘water with water’s website https://waterwithwater.com/

The inspiration for the album came from all the collaborations Sonic Jeel undertook over a three-year period. Several students who took the elective classes offered by Sonic Jeel at VCUarts Qatar continued working with audio even after the elective was completed, leading to 21 outstanding tracks that capture the originality of Qatar’s creative community. Their works are included in the album. Additionally, the album features audio tracks by VCUarts Qatar faculty members Michael Hersrud, Simone Muscolino, and Joshua Rodenberg, who are part of Sonic Jeel.

“The name ‘Zekreet’ came from the Zekreet village in north-western Qatar near Dukhan,” Muscolino explained. “This area is always popular for visitors and locals to explore the unique desert terrain, and is home to the iconic Richard Serra Sculptures. We really wanted Sonic Jeel’s first album release to connect to the idea of ‘place’ because Qatar has become the connecting point for a growing multi-national community.”

The original collection of tracks is in a digital format. But as a community of visual artists and designers, Sonic Jeel wanted to transform the intangible digital files into a tangible, tactile and physical experience — hence a double vinyl album.