Laila al Habash joins host Raina Douris

Laila al Habash has been writing songs since she was 13 years old, leaving her home in Rome to pursue music in Milan. On the World Cafe, she talks about songwriting – why she loves singing in Italian rather than English and how she pulls from her father’s roots in Palestine for some of the elements on her 2024 EP Long Story Short. She has a new album called Tempo coming soon and will perform songs both new and old in a session recorded at Rome’s Studio 33.

Listen to the session here.

Today’s Playlist
Robert Palmer “Looking For Clues” Clues
Laila Al Habash “Sottobraccio” Recorded Live for the World Cafe
Laila Al Habash “Oracolo” Recorded Live for the World Cafe
Laila Al Habash “Paranoia” Recorded Live for the World Cafe
Laila Al Habash “In Breve (outro)” Long Story Short
Laila Al Habash “Tuareg” Recorded Live for the World Cafe
Broken Bells “Holding on For Life” Recorded Live for the World Cafe
Lola Young “Messy” This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway
Blondie “Heart Of Glass” Parallel Lines
Sunny War “Static” Recorded Live for the World Cafe
Lucy Dacus “Ankles” Forever Is A Feeling
Ray Lamontagne “Forever My Friend” Trouble

Hour Two
The White Stripes “Fell In Love With A Girl” White Blood Cells
The Pretenders “Kid” Pretenders
Blondshell “23’s a Baby” If You Asked For A Picture
Michael Kiwanuka “Floating Parade” Small Changes
Weezer “Island In The Sun” Weezer (The Green Album)
Alex G “Afterlife” Headlights
Damon Albarn “Hollow Ponds” Everyday Robots
Death Cab For Cutie “Crooked Teeth” Recorded Live for the World Cafe
The Be Good Tanyas “The Littlest Birds” Recorded Live for the World Cafe
Grateful Dead “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” Wake Of The Flood
Steel Pulse “Ravers” True Democracy
Hannah Cohen “Dusty” Earthstar Mountain
The Slip “Children of December” Eisenhower
Drugdealer “Real Thing (ft. Weyes Blood)” (single)
Bon Iver “Everything Is Peaceful Love” SABLE, fABLE
Bartees Strange “Boomer” Live Forever
Nirvana “About A Girl” MTV Unplugged In New York