We've featured Talal here before when he made an appearance as a producer for Gentlemen Hall's latest track "Raindrops", but this is the first time we've covered one of his solo tracks (it certainly won't be the last, however). Talal was born and raised in Saudi Arabia, and his music has been making waves in the Middle East and Asia for some time now, but just recently he's been picking up steam in the Western Hemisphere as well, and as far as we're concerned, it can't happen fast enough. "Tough Love" is a funky, disco-infused instrumental from his forthcoming Sound Booth Time Machine EP, and its incoporated sonic cleanliness gives it a very modern vibe despite its vintage roots. There's a little bit of everything folded in, and if you listen closely, you'll pick up sound snippets from genres as far-flung as the places they originated from. However, despite the very eclectic set of genres Talal uses as inspiration for the track, not once do you get the impression the production got away from him. His ability to make sure everything stays tightly wound while still synchronous is unparallelled, and the final product is one of the more fun and original listens we've come across this month.
Talal Qureshi