Iness Mezel knows how to choose a good producer, even if she seems less sure as to the direction her music should take. Brought up in Algeria and France, with a French-Italian mother and an Algerian father, she’s a singer-songwriter whose work reflects her upbringing, with songs in Berber/Amazigh, French and now English. Her 2011 album Beyond the Trance was an impressive affair, produced by Justin Adams and dominated by his gutsy, bluesy guitar work. Now she has turned to John Reynolds, of Björk and Sinéad O’Connor fame, for an album that is aimed at a more mainstream audience. It starts well, with Mezel in powerful voice on the upbeat Silent Waters and Izha Wuliw, on which she mixes north African styles and funk, backed by Reynolds on drums, bass and keyboards, along with guitar and Berber percussion. But then she drifts away into pleasant but far less distinctive pop balladry.
