‘Epic’ is the word to best describe Sami Yusuf. A British-Azerbaijani singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist, he has been hailed as “Islam’s biggest rock star”, sold over 45 million albums and attracted an audience of 25,000 when this, his new concept work, was first played live in Istanbul. The music is grand-scale, of course, starting with the swirl of global styles as a prelude to a work that is, he says, “a sonic map of the soul in motion”. What follows is an epic set involving poetry by Rumi, lyrics in six languages and input from the likes of Indian star A.R. Rahman. There are constant changes within each track, with a wash of strings and voices suddenly giving way to furious percussion, finely sung vocals, or tuneful passages featuring instruments that range from the Chinese pipa to the haunting Armenian duduk. The album will sell by the truckload and has won an award even before being released – but it was still a relief when he finally calmed down on the slinky finale.

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