Natacha Atlas and Samy Bishai: Les Nuits – review

For her second experiment of the year, the lady once celebrated for mixing beats into Arabic pop now moves to ballet. After releasing a live album with orchestral backing, she has provided the music for Les Nuits, in which the French/Albanian choreographer Angelin Preljocaj reworks the 1,001 Nights story. Her co-writer is the Egyptian-born violinist, pianist and programmer Samy Bishai, and the result is an atmospheric, varied set that constantly switches direction. There are sections of cool, moody vocals matched against electronic effects and strings; throbbing electronics and a dash of Bollywood on Camel Driver, which provides a reminder of her work with Transglobal Underground; and lyrical, jazz-edged songs. The easygoing Amulet Reprise sounds like an exercise in sha'abi (contemporary Egyptian pop). But the best track, her latest treatment of It's a Man' s Man's Man's World, is a slow and thoughtful reworking of the James Brown classic.