Syriana, Purcell Room | reviews, news & interviews
Syriana, Purcell Room
Syriana, Purcell Room
Cold War chill and Arabic heat from this multicultural collective
Saturday, 07 May 2011
“Oh, there you are!” Some but not all of Syriana finally locate the photographerYork Tillyer
As someone brought up on the concise innocent perfection of the pop single, I have to confess I’m a bit of a hard sell when it comes to sprawling instrumentals. They feel like unfinished songs to me; empty landscapes that need figures in them to create context, narrative, or just a focal point to give meaning to the whole. But there have been a few primarily instrumental acts over the years that have convinced me, and the multicultural five-piece Syriana have now joined their ranks.
As someone brought up on the concise innocent perfection of the pop single, I have to confess I’m a bit of a hard sell when it comes to sprawling instrumentals. They feel like unfinished songs to me; empty landscapes that need figures in them to create context, narrative, or just a focal point to give meaning to the whole. But there have been a few primarily instrumental acts over the years that have convinced me, and the multicultural five-piece Syriana have now joined their ranks.
‘Syriana’s compositions veer between Cold War chill and widescreen James Bond heat’
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