Aware that he only has four compositions to make an impression, revered artist Abade Al Johar opens 2017’s Khalas Erjaa with an irresistible heartbreaker: The ear-snagging title track is a soulful cry for his beloved to return, interlaced with the musician’s fluent, all-powerful oud. With each song nearing or surpassing the seven-minute mark, he proceeds with almost ritualistic reverence, his eloquent memoirs of love and separation accented by gently rippling percussion. In four gracious steps, the nimble storyteller has added another masterwork to his prolific output.