Ahlam

NES are an intriguing trio. Formed in Valencia, Spain, they are fronted by a remarkable and versatile singer, Nesrine Belmokh. She sings in Arabic, English and French, shows her cello skills on two tracks, and is influenced by Arab-Andalusian styles as well as blues, jazz and flamenco. She is backed by the Spanish percussionist David Gadea, who has worked with leading flamenco musicians, and the French cellist Matthieu Saglio, who uses loop pedals to coax a remarkable range of sounds and textures from the instrument. They begin with the cool, gently exquisite title-track, an Arabic song (with lyrics by Nesrine's mother) that starts laidback and builds to a gently swinging finale. Then they switch to English for ‘You Made It Hard’, a pained, blues-influenced song driven on by plucked cello. From then on the changes keep coming. ‘Houzni’ starts like an a capella Western folk ballad that is transformed by Arab-influenced cello work from Belmokh and subtle, shuffling percussion, while ‘Le Temps’ veers towards French chanson, and ‘Happy NES’ is a cheerful scat-jazz workout. I would have liked more Arab-Andalusian songs, but this is nevertheless a cool, classy set from a highly original band.