Kaya Project

Desert Phase, from UK's Seb Taylor and Natasha Chamberlain, is the fourth Kaya Project released on Canadian independent downtempo label Interchill. The ambient electronica, with the Spaghetti western twist of "The Stranger Rolls In" and "Calico Stomp," owes its life to Taylor and Chamberlain's travels through the Sonoran desert of the southwest U.S. and Mexico. The tracks include howling wolves, desert winds, the clip-clop of horse hooves and a wailing harmonica all held together by the expressiveness of Taylor's slide and acoustic guitars. Most compelling are the songs that reference the pair's travels through the Thar Desert of India and Pakistan, and Morocco's Saharan desert. The Indo-Arabic chanting of acclaimed Bollywood songstress Shahin Badar on "Ummah Oum" is a must-listen and the tribal, trippy groove of "The Fortress," "Vijaya" and "23 Towers" will have you imagining a rave tossed into the setting of one of Salvador Dali's desert paintings. Taylor and Chamberlain have transformed the mystical noise of moving dunes into 15 ethereal gems on Desert Phase with a magic that can only be explained as sonic alchemy.