Pakistani-born singer-songwriter and music producer Mahmood Khan is an intriguing artist with quite a long list of ticks on his resume: a million-selling debut solo album, the first Pakistani-born artist to crack the US world music radio stations, the first Asian born Australian artist to hit #1 on the ARIA charts and many more. Mahmood’s interesting musical career includes his enduring recordings with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and his debut solo album selling over 6 million records. But Mahmood has also achieved outstanding results at a global level more recently with two other tracks: One Line Down breaking into the top 20 iTunes USA charts and Ginoo making its debut at #8 on the coveted Billboard World Digital Song Sales Chart, a first for a Pakistani artist and an Urdu song. Along with his other achievements, such as attaining 50 million YouTube streams, Mahmood was the first Asian-born Australian artist to hit #1 on the ARIA charts. Mahmood is also working on a book titled Zinda, a tell-all rendition of his time spent in the world of hip-hop in the early nineties, where he rubbed shoulders with Dr Dre, Snoop, Eazy E and the pioneers of hip-hop, The West Coast crew. This new track covers similar territory to his last release Runaway utilising world beat sensibilities that are finely laced with a smattering of rock and pop flavouring. The groove is infectious, like many world beat offerings usually are, with the verse melody’s trance-inducing quality imbuing it all with a soothing quality. The chorus is upbeat focusing on the themes of optimism and renewal. The track is wonderfully produced with outstanding performances and interesting and evocative instrumentation. The guitar lines, vocal textures are outstanding as are the various percussive elements, which play a major role in the overall groove. Aside from the feel-good nature of the track, it is also very catchy, with plenty of hooks and a passionate vocal performance from Mahmood. Merry Go Round will no doubt repeat the successes of Mahmood’s previous releases.
Vince Leigh for theaussieword.com.
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