专辑简介

'Social Circus' is original, depressing, challenging. Some may attack it as too much of a good thing or just too much to handle in one listen, but Ali is convinced that the "switching channels" approach is productively edgy. It is above all a courageous album, venturing into areas most pop songs rarely explore. But can an audience fed on pop-corn bear the emotional burdens of 'Social Circus'? Has the Pakistani listener, like Ali Azmat, finally gone beyond the momentary lapses of teenage heartache? Or has Ali Azmat left them far behind in his quest for musical ingenuity? The future of Pakistani rock-pop, even at the best of times is unpredictable but if any album is worth a serious listen it is this one. It has the potential to rattle preconceived notions and make you shift uncomfortably in your seat. I for one find that wildly exciting.

[In] 'Deewana' the first single from the album, Ali's slip-sliding vocals and the glamorous, sonorous arrangement seem to fit like yin and yang. It is a heady, intermittently raucous but strangely undulating mix. In other numbers, such as the eerie 'Teri Parchaiyan' (produced by the reclusive Rohail Hyatt) Ali's vocals plunge suddenly into undiscovered octaves and mess with your mind as he snarls his way through rejection and ruination. 'Na Ray Na' asks questions you may not want to answer, but it is both soulful and stirring - for now it is the song I want to listen to repeatedly despite the fact that it drags me down each time I do. 'Dil Ki Sera' takes an unexpected jazzy twist with a saxophone refrain that is tempting, seductive. The album in total explodes with overwhelming inner energies. None of this is clear on a first listen; 'Social Circus' will grow on you; it reveals new facets even when you feel you've finally figured it out.