Lovers Don’t Meet – Layla Kaylif
‘Lovers Don’t Meet’ is the new single from Layla Kaylif, which featured on her album release of the same name earlier this summer.
Our Americana correspondent, David Jarman, had the opportunity to speak to Layla recently, about the new single, how it and the album came to be recorded in Nashville, and her plans for her next release.
DJ
You must be very pleased with the critical reception to your album release earlier this year, with Americana leanings which represented a new chapter in your musical journey. Who were the main influences leading you in this new direction?
LK
Yes, I was very pleased with the reaction to my new album. I’m never quite sure of who fits within the Americana genre, the music of Joni Mitchell has always been an important influence on me, and I’m a big fan of Brandi Carlile, both her solo work and her recordings with the Highwomen.
DJ
Listening to your album it is clear that the lyrics are a very important part of your approach to writing?
LK
Yes, I was relatively late coming to music and song writing, I’ve always enjoyed writing poetry, and this is where my approach to lyric writing originates. I’ve never been one to pigeonhole artists within one realm –for me being an artist in the realm of music, culture or fine arts is all part of the continuum of art. For example, ‘Don’t You Know Me Yet’ was inspired by the story of Anthony and Cleopatra, in Shakespeare’s play.
After many years of collaborations and co-writes, I’ve returned to solo writing, and I’ve enjoyed the control it’s given me over my songs.
For me, the lyrics come first, but as I have sought to do more solo writing I have developed my guitar playing, to support my wider song writing.
DJ
And you have another string to your bow as a writer, with your recent 2018 movie ‘The Letter Writer’, where you were script writer and Director.
LK
Yes, at the moment my focus is on my music career, but I have another film project which may one day bear fruit.
DJ
Going back to the influence of the American music scene, and Americana in particular, on your own musical style, you’ve spent time in the States earlier in your career, I believe?
LK
That’s right. After my first single, ‘Shakespeare in Love’ and the album which featured this, I moved to Miami in 2000, with the project idea of a Latin/Arabic crossover. This produced an album’s worth of material, although not released at that time. I stayed on in the States, writing and recording the tracks which formed the basis of my next album release in 2008, ‘Body of Lies’. When I was developing the concept of my current album it seemed natural to return to the USA, and Nashville in particular, to record it.
DJ
You have an Emirati heritage, how much has this had an influence on your musical direction over your career?
LK
There have been times when I have regarded myself as a bit of a “misfit“, occupying a cross cultural space, neither in one or the other, but this has become a more comfortable place to be for me as my career has developed. As a young female artist working in the pop realm, as I was at the time of ‘Shakespeare in Love’, aspects of the persona this involved did not sit happily with the more conservative elements of my wider family – putting it bluntly, this was not seen as an honourable path for a young woman.
Much has changed, and a couple of years back when I gave a presentation to female students in Dubai, on the topic of my recent film release, it was clear that they saw nothing radical or threatening in my role as a musician and filmmaker.
In terms of my writing yes there are certainly Sufi-esque influences in my lyrics. If you look more widely at the world of music the influences of the Arabic traditions are wider than many would expect. For example, my own name, a common name in the Arab world is perhaps best known as a character in the tale of Layla and Majnun, an Arabian love story the equivalent of Romeo and Juliet in the European tradition – it is a little known fact that Eric Clapton’s song of this name was inspired by this love story.
DJ
So what’s next Layla – do you have a new album project in mind?
LK
I feel I’ve found my musical home with the Americana-based style of ‘Lovers Don’t Meet’, I’m very comfortable with the Nashville sound, allied to my folk and pop leanings, which have all contributed to the artist I am today.
I’m very interested in exploring the possibility of working with some of the great musicians coming to the fore in the UK Americana scene, and I’m optimistic that my next album will be both home grown and produced.
DJ
Thank you Layla—I look forward to hearing the new album when it comes to fruition, and in the meantime I’d strongly recommend to our readers your current release.
