Egypt: TooFuse release debut album ‘Earth’ after Montpellier performance

Released on 18 September, the six-track album brings together material developed over the past two years through individual releases, live performances and experimentation in Egypt, North Africa, the Gulf and Europe.

TooFuse comprises longtime collaborators Ahmed Omar and Nour Ashour, whose music combines electronic production with live instrumentation and improvisation. Omar works with bass and electronic instruments, while Ashour plays saxophone, flute, panpipes and percussion. Their music also incorporates instruments including guembri, krar, oud and guitar.

The pair have worked together across various bands and projects for more than two decades. TooFuse developed as an outlet for their own compositions, initially working with a larger ensemble before gradually placing electronic production at the centre of the project.

Earth marks the first time the duo have assembled their material as a complete album.

Natural landscapes, including the sea, desert and open spaces, recur across the album and the duo’s visual work. The title track focuses on the Earth and its forms of life.

Omar, who has Egyptian and Eritrean heritage, has also incorporated African instruments such as the krar and guembri into the project.

“That’s home. That’s memory,” he has said of his connection to those sounds.

Ashour grew up in Alexandria, with the Mediterranean and the sea becoming recurring references in his music and visual work.

The duo’s live performances combine recorded material with improvisation, with saxophone, bass and other instruments moving between the foreground and background. Musical sections can also be extended or reshaped during performances.

“We wanted to present electronic music in a different way,” Ashour said in an earlier interview. “We are neither DJs nor ordinary musicians.”

TooFuse developed much of its material through performances in Egypt, including shows in Dahab, Sharm El Sheikh, Cairo and Alexandria. The duo have also appeared at Al Alamein Festival, Fête de la Musique in Cairo and Alexandria, Aswat Festival, Chill O’Posite and Cairo Jazz Club 610.

Their international activity has included performances at Visa for Music in Rabat, Morocco, in November 2025 and XP Music Futures in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the following month.

The duo performed at the Arabesques Music Forum alongside Tunisian artist Azal and Palestinian group Al Kalsaat. The three-day forum brought together artists and music professionals from Mediterranean countries.