On their first two albums,
Kit Sebastian
-- the duo of multi-instrumentalist
Kit Martin
and vocalist
Merve Erdem
-- hit upon a winning formula. They blended 1960s psychedelia from around the globe with jazz, soundtrack funk, easy listening, and nostalgic pop, then added winsome vocals and catchy, moody melodies played on instruments often unfamiliar to Western music, like oud and saz. Things were working so well that when it came time to record a third album, they didn't tinker with the approach much. Maybe
New Internationale
is a little more focused, taught, and more psychedelic in spots? Perhaps a little less jazz and a little more sounds of '60s cinema? Yes and yes, but it's a barely noticeable shift, and the record hits the same sweet spot that
Melodi
did. The one thing that feels different is a slight bit more reliance on the psychedelic sounds of
Erdem
's home country of Turkey. Songs like "Ellerin Ellerimde" and "Metropolis" come across even more traditional than
Altin Gün
while still packing the same mystic punch.
proves again to be a pleasing, flexible vocalist able to croon seductively -- as on the cocktail jazz-funk ballad "The Kiss" -- or push her vocals near the breaking point, as she does on the insistent album opener "Faust." She's a perfect foil for
Martin
, able to bring his intricately layered arrangements to life. Songs like the pulsing rocker "Bul Bul Bul," the murky spy jazz ballad "Odyssey," or the glimmering psych-funk track "Camouflage" are interesting enough that they could have worked as instrumentals, but her vocals give them the extra tweak needed to make them great. Every choice the duo make on
works like a charm, and their formula seems like it will never run out of gas. Even if it does, the imagination and skill they exhibit here give hope that they will be able to figure it out and keep making fascinating albums. ~ Tim Sendra