On Mustafa’s 2024 debut album, the Sudanese Canadian songwriter moves from topic to topic with the deft narrative craft of a seasoned wordsmith. “Dunya,” which translates from Arabic to “the world in all its flaws,” perfectly encapsulates Mustafa’s approach to songwriting: It's raw and unfiltered but totally in awe of the planet on which we find ourselves. On opener “Name of God,” Mustafa surrounds himself with little outside of an acoustic guitar melody, letting his powerful voice carry the song’s emotional heft. He blends the personal and universal on the song, asking, “Whose Lord are you naming/When you start to break things?” Elsewhere, on the percussive “Old Life,” he looks back with mixed feelings on a relationship long in the rearview. He croons, “I'm not yours/But there's a part of your life that is mine.” All we are, Mustafa asserts, is the experiences we have.