No Stranger Here

East-meets-West musical projects are sometimes wildly successful, and sometimes less so. This is one of the more compelling ones I’ve ever encountered. Shubha Mudgal is a glorious singer in the Hindustani tradition, and on this album Business Class Refugees create accompaniment for her in a variety of powerful and uplifting styles, sometimes bringing jungly breakbeats to the mix and sometimes a sort of globe-trotting pop-rock backdrop that draws on Indian film music, electro, and orchestral pop.