Mayssa Karaa premieres her debut album, Simple Cure, on CelebMix. Following on the heels of her two previous singles, “White Rabbit,” and “Hayati,” which hit the number one spot on Apple Music India, the album merges Arabic influences with scintillating Western pop.
Originally from Lebanaon, where she was trained in classical music, Karaa imagined she would pursue a career in civil engineering. The wise counsel of a French conductor changed her life, when he told her, “When you meet God he’s going to tell you, ‘I gave you a gift – what did you do with it?’ That was the turning point in my career.”
According to Karaa, her lyrics have their genesis in conversations. “I would speak with my producer Richard Jacques, tell him something that I remembered, and we would come up with the lines and hooks to relate these stories.”
The stories contained in the songs narrate Karaa’s journey from Lebanon to her new home in Los Angeles, capturing her search for identity. In doing so, she’s toured the world, singing in nine languages, performing with the L.A. Philharmonic Orchestra, playing concerts at Faneuil Hall in Boston and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in L.A., along with gracing the movie American Hustle with her spectacular version of “White Rabbit.”
Encompassing 10-tracks, Simple Cure opens with “Broken Lines,” featuring stylish pop flavors riding a subtle Arabic rhythm, infusing the tune with infectious pulses topped by gleaming textures, as Karaa’s wonderfully evocative voice glides above.
Entry points on the album include “In The Grey,” a song conveying the mediating coloration between black and white. The song opens on creamy colors flowing into a captivating electro-pop melody crowned by Karaa’s silky tones, imbuing the lyrics with urgent dynamism.
The title track thrums with potent energy, traveling on a cavernous rhythm supporting streaming washes of harmonics. Karaa struts her incredible vocal range on this song, delivering tones shivering with clarity.
“Step in the air, breathe in the stars, the simple cure is every heart.”
“Call Me A Stranger” represents Karaa’s quest for her identity in a world pervaded by chaos. A throbbing rhythm sustains cool pop flavors melded with Arabic accents. Karaa’s impassioned voice reflects remote nuances of disquiet.
On her cover of Jefferson Airplane’s “Somebody To Love,” Karaa furnishes a dark muscular interpretation of the song, rife with heavy surging tints. Intense and searing, Karaa’s magnificently formidable voice mounts on crystalline timbres to celestial heights.
Simple Cure is superb, full of delectable pop brilliance flavored by commanding rhythms, all illuminated by the exquisite voice of Mayssa Karaa.
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