Even when paying homage to the Moroccan music she grew up with, vocalist
Natacha Atlas can't help but let the multicultural and modern seep in. With bossa nova, Western pop, and just a thin slice of electronica figuring into the mix, the "back to my roots" album
Mish Maoul is a rich collection of music that doesn't sound decorated but natural coming from an artist who prides herself in being a musical nomad. Easy to believe a nomad's memories of her homeland would be foggy and sentimental, and easy to believe the modern nomad's soundtrack would sound something like this -- only something like this because this is far and away
Atlas' most personal album. Suitably, she seems totally in charge of its construction, making interesting production choices with the help of
Temple of Sound,
Timothy Whelan, and others. For someone who has worked with
Transglobal Underground,
Art of Trance, and
Jah Wobble in the past, the restraint
Atlas uses on the rhythmic and ritualistic "Hayati Inta" is surprising and creates an intoxicating tension with only a slight bit of electric guitar revealing this isn't a field recording. Minor bits of studio trickery decorate the otherwise earthy "Bathaddak," while the playful "Haram Aleyk" lazily strolls from organic to electronic and back again. Pulling out the stops are the
Massive Attack-by-way-of-Bollywood "Lil Khowf" and the much more pop "Feen," which could be considered the album's lone stumble depending on your tolerance for sweet "You can do it!" songs. With only a Brazilian-flavored acoustic guitar supporting
Atlas' entrancing voice and heartfelt delivery, "Yariet" brings the album to a soft, organic close and suddenly it becomes apparent that despite the electronics and genre blending heard previously,
Atlas music isn't so much "otherworldly" now as "worldly" in the most eye-opening sense of the word. ~ David Jeffries