A straight collaboration originally undertaken in 1994 between main man Chris Rael of postmodern psychedelic-Indian fusioneers Church of Betty and Anglo-Indian siren Najma Akhtar, Forbidden Kisses took over a year to complete, finally seeing release in 1996. Part of the reason for the lengthy time consumption is the complexity of the album, which is a tribute to pioneer Hindi cinema composer S.D. Burman, whose reputation, the liner notes point out, is roughly equivalent in South Asia to George Gershwin or Irving Berlin in the West. You really a get a feel for the Western cinematic influence on his music on "Piya Tu Ab to Aaja," and Rael wonderfully frames this aspect of the composition. His additions to the music are awesome, spotting everything from exotic hand percussion and sitar to typical Western instruments (guitar, violin, keyboards) and splashes of horns at all the right moments, neither overloading nor underwhelming the music but rendering it mutable and wonderfully alive. (Bron: Allmusic).
'Anglo-Indian female vocalist sings modernized medieval Persian love songs called "ghazals" in a traditional Indian-music setting of tabla and violin -- plus the addition of smooth, jazz-inflected sax'. (Bob Tarte, Allmusic).
Indiase zangeres die hier samenwerkt met multi-instrumentalist/producer Richard Grassby-Lewis. Najma's kwinkelerende, bijzonder soepele zang benadert die van legendarisch Bollywood-zangeres Asha Bhosle. Haar onnavolgbare vocale kronkelingen zijn omkleed met een voor een groot deel electronisch 'etnodance'-geluidspalet, verrijkt met o.a. Indiase percussie en ander Oosters instrumentarium. Men beperkt zich overigens niet tot Indiase muziek - ook Arabische melodieën weerklinken, wat gelijkenissen met het werk van Natacha Atlas en Trans-Global Underground oplevert.
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