Strange Days

On 2015's Myriad Road, Egyptian-British vocalist Natacha Atlas recorded her first explorations into jazz with Lebanese trumpeter/pianist/composer Ibrahim Malouf. The jazz setting was quieter and more intimate than the global dance music that established her reputation, but her attempt at juxtaposing Arabic modes, tones, and rhythms to western music was natural, part of an honest evolution in her aesthetic. Strange Days, Atlas' debut for Michael Janisch's eclectic Whirlwind Recordings, moves even further toward immersion in jazz while not quite settling there. Arranged and produced by longtime collaborator Samy Bishai, with whom she co-composed all but one of the album's ten tracks, the set finds Atlas accompanied by a sextet and assisted throughout by guests including saxophonist and flutist Idris Rahman, chamber strings, additional percussion, and guitars. Atlas sings in English, Arabic, and sometimes both. Opener "Out of Time" is introduced by Alcyona Mick's George Shearing-esque piano and framed by brass, strings, and reeds as Atlas dances a tightrope between lithe, gently swinging jazz and Occidental modalism. First single "Maktoub" (sung in Arabic) weaves a mysterious tapestry of hip-hop and syncopated Tsifteteli rhythms with portamento chamber strings, a nearly-chanted male-and-female backing chorus, tenor saxophone, and brass. French trombonist Robinson Khoury steps forward with a finely pitched solo, picking up on the mood with smooth, supple phrasing. Laurie Lowe's breakbeats underscore the minor mode. "Min Baad" is seemingly a jazz ballad, though Bishai's string chart hovers and moans in the misty terrain between gypsy jazz and Egyptian shaabi above a languid piano and bassline as Atlas bridges both traditions. Brit soul singer Joss Stone ably and dramatically guests in a duet on "Words of a King," that weaves spacious jazz-funk into an Arab classical music chart with a blissed-out R&B chorus. "Sunshine Day" with Brazilian guitarist Paulo Vinicius brings bossa nova into the equation with hand percussion, strings, horns, and fingerpopping jazz in the break. The chamber string retort to the cover of James Brown's "It's a Man's World" is almost cinematic. Atlas rides the slow-burning minor-key jazz-blues amid swirling Arabic strings, a smoky piano, and hand drums. Closer "Moonchild" is a handsome ballad that weaves Brit folk, modern classical music, and mellow post-bop with a brooding and mysterious vocal. Throughout, Atlas and her accompanists shine; they are assured in their purpose yet navigate their musical discoveries with an explorer's curiosity. Strange Days is a meditation on our dystopian times offered with elegance, grace, practical wisdom, and genuinely perplexed curiosity, ultimately creating a musical world for Atlas' iconic voice to inhabit and explore. ~ Thom Jurek