The Eternal Return

Nigh on 30 years from the coining of the term, there remains a certain oddity in styling oneself a ‘world music’ band. It seems to imply that the performance of music from any culture but one's own is the object of attraction, whether it's an imitation, or a sustained and concentrated effort to remake oneself in the image of a foreign musical culture. The Bulgarian band Irfan have chosen a middle way, picking instruments, rhythms and sonorities from the Levant and its hinterland, while retaining a Bulgarian accent in their compositions and manner of performance. They display a solid command of their instruments, which range from oud (lute) and ney (flute) to djembé and bodhrán percussion and draw inspiration from mystical theology, numinous natural features, and distances of time. The handling of both the instrumental and vocal parts is perfectly assured, and the building of the arrangements well-judged, even if oddly lacking in feeling, with little in the way of variation. The pieces would make a great immersive, entrancing soundtrack to a darkly atmospheric video game, one that I suspect would be very enjoyable to play.