She told AIM magazine it had a strong Bollywood influence. “I am a huge Asha Bhosle fan and when I saw her performing with the Kronas Quartet a couple of years ago at the Barbican, singing Dum Maro Dum, the crowd went wild.”
“It was so awe inspiring and from that moment, I said to my music manager, Simon, ‘I’ve got to write a song with some of the influences from Dum Maro Dum‘. I absolutely adore the guitar riff throughout the track, and when I wrote it with the amazing Bombay Dub Orchestra boys, (Garry and Andrew), they were totally vibing from it, and voila! Magic Carpet Ride.”
The single is the first from her debut album out later this year. It features five mixes by Johnny Douglas, Nucleya, Pathaan, DJ Shadow+DJ Dev and FlipNSpin.
But it isn’t her first release. A few years ago she released a ‘Live Sessions’ EP that had a distinctly guitar feel to her music. So has she changed direction from her well received performance in Glastonbury three years ago?
“Glastonbury was a trip to play at! Had so much fun… I am very fortunate to have an incredibly versatile bunch of band mates, and at that time, it was about capturing something live and intimate, hence the acoustic sounding sets. That’s what led up to my ‘Live Sessions’ EP,” she says.
“Magic Carpet Ride was always going to blend my Asian roots with mainstream pop influences – a cross over so to speak, and I love to strut on the dance floor so yeah, bring on the dance/electro-pop infusions too!”
The London based performer has been focusing on her acting assignments of late. Most notably she played the female lead Layla in ‘The Scorpion King 2: Rise of A Warrior’ recently.
Later this year she stars in another film, ‘Couples Retreat’, starring Vince Vaughn and Kristen Bell.
In the mean time she is back to pushing and promoting her music. The video was all shot in London, mostly around Liverpool Street station.
She adds: “In this case, my magic carpet ride was on the tube where my imagination takes me to different places inside my head! Hope the fans like it!”
Magic Carpet Ride video