Globally celebrated singer Natacha Atlas has been building towards the subtlebeauty of her brand new album ever since 2008 s internationally acclaimedacoustic, orchestral album Ana Hina. Recorded with guests including pianist ZoeRahman, a 20-piece Turkish ensemble and a chamber orchestra integratingwestern and Arabic styles, Mounqaliba (which means being in a state of reversal in classical Arabic) is a stunning set of original new songs, evocative interludes,and a limpid, lucid reading of Nick Drake s The Riverman. What I hope I have achieved says Natacha is to match the lyricism of classicalmusic with the inherent poetry of Arabic, I wanted to continue the exploration ofgrounds covered with Ana Hina. Through the juxtaposition of western classicalstring sections with traditional Arabic instruments, classical arabic poetry againstabstract impressionism, traditional Arabic percussion with smoky jazz kits....... Tocreate a melange of ideas and examined opposites. Spanning a broad range ofstyles and sounds, Nick Drake's Riverman nestles snugly alongside classical arabicstandard Muwashah Ozkourini, the utopian epic sweep of Makaan (temperingwistfulness with a fragile sadness) and the post-modern glitchiness of Batkallim(the most electronic sounding song on the album, a scathing denunciation of thegrowing tide of hypocrisy that seems to have stricken the world's media andpolitics).Though largely acoustic, and featuring ney, accordion and piano among thefusion of East-West string ensembles and orchestral textures, Natacha does makea return to digital beats. There is one track where we ve treated the Arabicpercussion with electronic programming. A lot of the time when Arabic music isfused with western music they conform the Arabic beats to western beatsbecause it s one of the easiest ways to bring the two worlds together, but we venot done that, we ve glitched it instead, so it has a modern feel without losing itsArabic identity.
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