With a Tunisian singer Nawel Ben Kraiem who sings in English, French and Arabic, above guitar bouzouki, violin, darbuka and djembe, French ensemble Cirrus are a unique proposition. Their music is a kind of folk pop hybrid, with the music very much grouped around the evocative female vocals, and the violin and guest cello adding a touch a chamber class. They seem to operate on one level for a while then thanks to the propulsive hand drums manage to kick it up a notch, though again following the lead of the vocals. The instruments are in the main acoustic, adding to the folk feel, and the music is this interesting mix of traditional elements of the orient and more contemporary points, such as in She Kills where the the violin cheekily borrows the man theme from Morricone’s The Good The Bad and The Ugly and the acoustic guitar does that percussive chugging that Ennio loved so much. Yet there are more contemporary less explicit influences spread throughout Mamma Please that recall indie rock, blues or even dance music. Yet the key to Cirrus is their ability to integrate all these influences under those extraordinary breathless evocative vocals.
Bob Baker Fish
