The North African-obsessed compiler behind the
Arabica albums,
Francis Peyrat joins forces with De Lune compadre
Christophe Goze for this production project, the intention of which is to fuse Middle Eastern influences to a more contemporary chilled philosophy. Indeed, although this precept coupled with luscious desert-swept packaging promises much, a distinct lack of invention within the arrangement and an almost complete reliance on sample CDs bring something of the emperor's new clothes to the proceedings, with the all-important ethnic influence often clumsily bolted on to bland down-tempo loops.
Goze's acoustic guitar work in "Sirocco," though welcome, comes too late to save an album so inoffensive that its market can only be inner-city restaurants encumbered with a Moroccan theme.