If you’re familiar with Naughty Boy then you should already know his story, but for those of you who aren’t here it is: Originally working as a pizza delivery boy for Dominoes (other pizza delivery services are available), Naughty Boy (real name Shahid Khan) emerged as an original rags to riches story after his 44k win on the tv prize show ‘Deal or No Deal’. Naughty Boy was then born collaborating with the likes of Emeli Sande on the singles ‘Wonder’ and ‘Lifted’ and going on to produce the biggest-selling single by a British artist this year (in excess of 41 million video views) with ‘La La La’. The multitalented songwriter, record producer and musician that is Naughty Boy seems to do no wrong. In 2013 Naughty Boy has released his debut album ‘Hotel Cabana’, a collaborative album with the likes of Ed Sheeran, Gabrielle and many others, similar to Mark Ronson’s album ‘Version’ from 2007 but with a much more urban/orchestrated feel. TWSH brings you our take on ‘No one’s here to sleep’, feat. Bastille; another selection via the iTunes single of the week. Lets just say it doesn’t disappoint.
This song is nothing more than fantastic, maybe fabulous… actually let’s meet halfway and say fantabulous. Emotive and powerful; prowling and almost animalistic. Dangerous and fulfilling with a roundness of sound that you don’t expect. It’s full of contrasting vocals, backing riffs and effects that hit hard and keep on going. The arrangement is understated without being simple, the sound is an accentuated percussion based heartbeat rendering with something of a raga synth backing and rnb hip-hop/vocoder overlay. The smoothness of the entire song is ethereal and sweeping; making for an enigmatic and cinematic song rounded off by the stunning vocals that Dan Smith, singer from Bastille, adds make this song haunting and familiar.
Naughty Boy showcases why the UK is the best place to be making music right now, full of exciting multicultural mixes that gives UK music the most unique sound in the world, there is nowhere better to be right now. This track just showcases one aspect of this, if you listen to ‘Hotel Cabana’ in full you get a chance to travel the world, with sound from the Middle East to classical selections that would suit The Royal Albert Hall and Hip-hop references worthy of the states. Naughty Boy is bang on trend musically right now creating new sounds and forging a new path, good thing he’s good at guessing numbers in boxes!
-TWSH
Download No One’s Here to Sleep
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