Today marks the release of Junun, the new album from composer/musician Shye Ben Tzur, guitarist Jonny Greenwood, and the Rajasthan Express, a group of Indian musicians. Recorded earlier this year in a makeshift studio inside the 15th-century Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur, India, the album was made with Radiohead's producer Nigel Godrich, who worked with the ensemble to create this two LP/CD album. The album comprises Ben Tzur’s compositions, which feature devotional Sufi qawwal musicians who sing in Urdu as well as in his native Hebrew. "One of the most inspired releases of the year," exclaims the Sunday Times of London. "Intriguing, sinuous, and essential listening."

To get Junun (an alternate spelling of "junoon," which means "mania," or "the madness of love"), head to your local record shop, Amazon, iTunes, or the Nonesuch Store, where CD and vinyl orders include a download of the complete album at checkout.

Today also marks the release on iTunes of Paul Thomas Anderson's film Junun, which documents the recording sessions as well as daily life and the close camaraderie of artistic collaboration. The impressionistic film debuted at the New York Film Festival in October and streamed exclusively on MUBI for a month. You can watch an exclusive outtake from the film, featuring the album track "Hu," below.

Pitchfork reviewer Seth Colter Walls notes the "impressive range of textures" and concludes that "the newsiest takeaways from this album involve the skill of Ben Tzur and the musicians of the Rajasthan Express. The ensemble’s playing and the leader's compositions make Junun an easy stretch—though, crucially, not a condescending one—for listeners otherwise unfamiliar with the great variety of methods often obscured by 'world music' market-speak."

The LAist says the album is "one of the most inspiring intercontinental musical collaborations in recent memory." After the opening scene in Anderson's film, "you may find yourself tempted to rise in ovation." Consequence of Sound calls it "a celebration of musicians living, breathing, and learning from one another." Exclaim says: "This is music to be embraced and celebrated."

The Irish Times gives the album four stars, saying: "The richly evocative individual vocals meshed with the choral whole is what lures the listener ever inwards into this celebratory swirl of devotion."

"The music on this double record resonates with an undeniable passion that registers on a deep, universal level," writes All About Jazz reviewer Nenad Georgievski. "This is world music, but envisioned by musicians who innately stay a step removed from the safety and boredom of the mainstream."

Greenwood made a guest appearance last year during Ben Tzur's London concert, where they previewed some of the music of Junun, and this summer, the two were joined by the qawwali party for two performances at the Jerusalem Sacred Music Festival. Further concerts are being planned for the future, as are additional screenings of Anderson's film.

Shye Ben Tzur is an Israeli composer/producer/poet and performer who lives in India and Israel. He composes qawwalis—instrumental and devotional music—in Hebrew, Urdu, and Hindi. A concert by Zakir Hussain and Hariprasad Chaurasia that Ben Tzur attended as a young man was life-changing. "It touched my heart so deeply," he says. "It was at the time the deepest musical experience I had gone through. It moved me so that I could do nothing but go find out what it is. I feel I'm still in that spot. I don't think I have achieved it. Indian music is so vast and so deep and the more I learn different things about it, I realize how ignorant I was. It just doesn't stop."

"When I was in the Negev desert in southern Israel a couple of years ago, I heard a band playing a song using an Arabic violin called a rehab," Greenwood told London's Evening Standard. "It was a strange mix of Arabic and traditional Indian music, one that I'd never come across before," He continued, "The best song, I found out, was written by Shye Ben Tzur, an Israeli musician who had been living in India until this year. I set out to discover more about him … I'm always a little wary of rock bands half-heartedly dabbling in world music—itself a slightly greasy term—but there are exceptions. Damon Albarn is one: his work with musicians in Mali is something he's clearly fully committed to. And I think Shye Ben Tzur is another."

Widely known as the guitarist for Radiohead, Jonny Greenwood also is a highly respected composer. In addition to his soundtracks to Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice, There Will Be Blood, and The Master, Nonesuch also released his score for Norwegian Wood and his collaboration with Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki.