As a siren entices sailors to a watery grave, an expressive soul can lure strangers to get giddy on its intoxicating tales of love, loss and sorrow

Sarajevo-born Sevdah singer Amira Medunjanin calls on genuine emotional depth to deliver songs that tell of the allure of the heart and the grip of sorrow, as put to good use on her latest release, Damar.

Like Portuguese fado, Judeo-Spanish ladino and flamenco from Spain, the rich Sevdah songbook of the Balkans is loaded with passion, sorrow, bloodlust and feuds, as well as romance, humour and, naturally, a heavy dose of dark melancholia.

Amira has refined the art of storytelling through song. When she sings, it is as if she is speaking to us only.

Like a voice in our head, a lover speaking softly close to our ear, the acclaimed Bosnian singer conjures emotions that are personal and real, and their appeal is inescapable.