No Stranger Here

Initially I found the very idea of this album a little off-putting. A selection of 16th century Indian poems by Kabir, a poet of the Bhakti Movement, are sung by Shubha Mudgal. American spoken-word artist Ursula Rucker responded to these poems with her own carefully honed pieces. The final element in this unlikely three-way collaboration is the contemporary music and arrangements created by producer Patrick Sebag and sound designer Yotam Agam, otherwise known as the Business Class Refugees.

For one thing, surely poetry is meant to be heard against silence, so that the words themselves can sing without distractions? Fortunately hip-hop artist Rucker wisely keeps her pieces short, her words simple, and her delivery calm and poised, so that her poems function as interludes during what are otherwise extravagantly orchestrated pieces. In direct contrast, Mudgal's soaring, soulful vocals demand attention, helping to persuade us that perhaps these ancient poems were always destined one day to be sung.

As for the musical backdrop over which these two disparate artists perform; think Bollywood meets Bacharach with subtle hints of R&B, 70s disco and stadium rock. Although initially I found it a somewhat over-iced cake, by the third or fourth play I began to acclimatise to its headily cinematic soundscapes. There are some gorgeous melodies here, none more so than the opener ‘Seraphim Tones.’ And you may also like to know that English translations of all the Indian poems are included.