Oud player Khyam Allami was born in Damascus to Iraqi parents, who moved to London in 1990 when he was nine years old. Allami started out playing violin, bass and drums, and then took up the oud at the age of 23. He started Alif in 2012 as a way of presenting original composition with roots in traditional Arab music.

Alif are: Allami, Tamer Abu Ghazaleh (vocals, buzuq), Bashar Farran (bass), Maurice Louca (keyboard, electronics) and Khaled Yassine (percussion).

"Yalla Tnam (Lullaby)" is from their first album, Aynama-Rtama (Wherever It Falls) and uses colloquial Arabic lyrics written by Abu Ghazaleh – a majority of the album uses poetry written in classical Arabic.

Aynama-Rtama (Wherever It Falls) was recorded in Beirut and Cairo and will be released by Nawa Recordings on 4 September.