2023-06-16 11:22:30
Album
“King of a Land”: reconciliation with a rock star
Cat Stevens aka Yusuf says of his new album: “This record is the epitome of the fusion between Yusuf and Cat Stevens.” photo
© Christoph Soeder/dpa
With “King of a Land” Yusuf/Cat Stevens achieve a harmony between spirituality and rock’n’roll. This can be enjoyed without having to adopt the worldview of the devout Muslim.
The man, who calls himself Yusuf, but now also Cat Stevens again, is at peace with himself at almost 75 years old. After a meteoric rise in the world of rock and pop stars in the 60s and 70s, the Brit returned to the industry left for decades to attend to his spiritual needs, family and charity work.
He has been making popular music again since 2006 – but he has only now achieved the perfect harmony between the pious older gentleman and the attractive and brilliant musician and songwriter with his new album “King of a Land”, which will be released this Friday. “This record is the epitome of the fusion between Yusuf and Cat Stevens,” he says in an interview with the German Press Agency.
A journey through the decades
If you concentrate on the lyrics alone, you could easily dismiss “King of a Land” as Islamic worship – similar to the worship in the Christian charismatic movement. But that wouldn’t do the album justice. Musically, it’s a journey through decades of rock and pop history, guided by one of its most gifted protagonists.
Yusuf himself describes it as a soundtrack of the musical influences that have shaped him since his earliest days. In the song “How Good It Feels”, for example, he was inspired by Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake”. At the same time, the piece is reminiscent of his songs from the 70s. “I started writing it in 1968,” he says. It was only completed a few years ago. The track “Highness” evokes associations with musicals that Stevens, who grew up in London’s West End, came into contact with since childhood.
He also takes up a motif from his earlier years with the song “Train on a Hill”, which is reminiscent of the 1971 hit “Peace Train” with its symbolism. The title song “King of a Land” – is a snare drum-dominated depiction of the dream of being able to solve all of mankind’s problems in one fell swoop – at least as a consciously childlike thinking Yusuf imagines these solutions.
The Influence of George Harrison
In the rocking, fast-paced “Pagan Run”, the once self-confident star reveals the insecurities and fears that plagued him as a young person – and which he finally overcame with his conversion at the end of the 70s. Closing title “Take the World Apart” is an upbeat piece that was previously released with an animated video clip featuring drawings by children’s book illustrator Peter H. Reynolds.
He sees George Harrison, who died in 2001, as an important influence. He also turned to the East in search of spiritual enlightenment – albeit not in Islam, but in the Hindu tradition. His admiration went so far that he would have liked to call out to the ex-Beatle when they met: “I love you!”, he says today. But these meetings were far too formal and he was far too shy and stuck in his own star bubble.
In any case, the guitar playing in some songs on his new album is a homage to Harrison’s collaboration in the supergroup Traveling Wilburys, says and adds: “It was extraordinary and I love it.”
“Open Book”
He doesn’t want to proselytize with his lyrics, which are partly inspired by the Koran and Islamic tradition, he makes that clear. But he also has no desire to pretend. “It’s pretty much an open book to who I am today, and I can’t go through the day without thinking about God,” he says.
Yusuf aka Cat Stevens presents himself as a man who has found emotional security in a self-contained worldview. You can approve or reject that. The fact is that he manages to transport this feeling of security in his songs, which are worth listening to – and that can be enjoyed without making his convictions your own.
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