Junun, the new album from composer/musician Shye Ben Tzur, guitarist Jonny Greenwood, and a group of Indian musicians known as the Rajasthan Express, due next Friday, November 20, is streaming in full till then as an NPR First Listen at npr.org/music. The album's "real magic comes when the brass section is unleashed," says NPR's Tom Pryor; some tracks "practically jump out of the speakers and command listeners to dance."
Junun, the new album from composer/musician Shye Ben Tzur, guitarist Jonny Greenwood, and a group of Indian musicians known as the Rajasthan Express, is out next Friday, November 20, on Nonesuch Records. But you don't need to wait till then to hear it: the album is streaming in full below as an NPR First Listen.
Junun was recorded in a makeshift studio inside the 15th-century Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur, India, with Radiohead's producer Nigel Godrich. The album comprises Ben Tzur’s compositions, which feature devotional Sufi qawwal musicians who sing in Urdu as well as in his native Hebrew.
On the album, "the real magic comes when the brass section is unleashed," says NPR's Tom Pryor. "With six horns (three tubas, two trumpets and a trombone) led by trumpeter Aamir Bhiyani, and backed by five thundering percussionists, 'Julus' and 'Junun Brass' practically jump out of the speakers and command listeners to dance."
Pryor calls attention to another track, concluding: "The intro to 'Kalendar' blends Ben Tzur's atmospheric flute with the ghostly sounds of Greenwood's vintage Ondes Martentot synthesizer, before skittering percussion and a delirious harmonium kick the music into psychedelic territory—and delivers on Junun's high concept perfectly."
Read the complete review at npr.org/music and hear Junun in full below.
Reserve a copy of Junun and download the track "Roked" now when you pre-order the album on iTunes and on CD and vinyl in the Nonesuch Store.
Paul Thomas Anderson's film Junun, which documents the recording of the album, opened at the New York Film Festival last month and receives its Los Angeles premiere at The Theatre at Ace Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles this Sunday, November 15. Click here for tickets.
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