Rüya : Dream for Anatolia

"Sangerinden Olcay Bayir er nok kurdisk/tyrkisk af oprindelse, men igennem mange år har hun boet i Storbritannien, og begge dele/lande bærer hendes sange præg af. Hun har måske nok et nostalgisk forhold til sit fædrelands vemodige sange og musik, i hvert fald et meget stærkt forhold dertil, men hun er også rundet af en række nyere, eklektiske strømme i den europæiske/britiske musik. Hun er klassisk uddannet sopran, men åben overfor de udtryk, der knytter sig til catchy folk- og popsange, og alt dét bygger hun - bl.a. med hjælp fra producerne, Al MacSween og Guiluano Modarelli - bro imellem på sit nye, gribende smukke og netop catchy album".

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"With her second album, Olcay Bayir proves that she is one of the finest, most intriguing singers on the British world music scene, with a style that reflects her complex history. She was born in the troubled Kurdish region of southern Turkey, a member of the Alevi minority religious group and the daughter of an ashik, a singer and musician who performs at religious and social ceremonies. In 2000, when she was 16, her life changed dramatically. Her father moved his family to London "for a better life", and Bayir, who initially spoke no English, studied for a music degree and trained as a classical soprano. Then she began to blend her new skills with the Anatolian folk tradition, helped by members of London's cosmopolitan music community. Her 2014 debut Neva ("Harmony") included folk songs in five languages, while the new Rüya ("Dream") is even bolder, including her own compositions for the first time, in a set thoughtfully produced and arranged by Giuliano Modarelli and Al MacSween from that eclectic jazz-world collective Kefaya".

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"The band backs her up on Rüya: Dream For Anatolia (...) with a combination of traditional Turkish and Western instruments. Bayir's vocals are impressive, with a bittersweet presence full of fluttering embellishments".