Carl & The Reda Mafia Drop Beautiful First Track from New Acoustic Album

Dubai-based band Carl & The Reda Mafia strip it back on their soon-come new acoustic album, Trip. A collaboration with vocalist Prarthana Indrajith, first track Million Miles has just dropped and it’s staggeringly beautiful.

“After writing the song I immediately knew we needed a female singer on board,” said the band’s lead singer-songwriter Carl La’frenai’s. “I was specifically looking for a vocalist whose tone would bring a personal touch to the song. I found Prarthana’s music on her Instagram and thought she had such a unique voice. When I reached out to her, she loved the song and the rest is history, as they say.”

Poignant

Million Miles is incredibly poignant. Carl reveals the backstory. “It was inspired by a news article about a nurse who wasn’t on Covid duty but was working at the same hospital where her husband lost his life to the deadly virus. She wasn’t able to see him, unfortunately. I remember her saying: ‘I knew he was here but it felt like he was a million miles away and that broke me’. That was the inspiration for me to write this song. I felt it would relate to so many of us who have lost near and dear ones to the pandemic.”

Right Moment

Indeed, the global pandemic has shaped the new 10-track album. The initial idea was to work on a traditional Carl & The Reda Mafia funk jam album. But when lockdown hit only Carl and his bandmate Tarek Reda were in town out of the four-piece band. “We felt it was the right moment to work on an acoustic album with songs that are personal and have a connection to our lives. The whole album is just guitar and vocals. We wanted it to be an experience where the listener feels like we’re right there with them, singing these songs for them.

Energy

“The pandemic has prompted a funk rock band to make an acoustic album. Having time off from gigging live inspired us to channel that on-stage energy into writing, composing and exploring more of what we could do with the band.”

As a result, Carl believes he has grown as a songwriter. “With funk and rock I always kept it simple and wrote for the groove. With this album, I really explored what I could do as a writer. Writing from personal experiences helped me grow as an artist, I feel.”

Gig Dates

Check out the beautiful Million Miles below and catch Carl & The Reda Mafia performing at Time Out Market, in Downtown Dubai’s Souk Al Bahar, on Tuesday 10 August. Alternatively, bag tickets to the Trip album preview gig at The Fridge, in Al Serkal Avenue, on Monday 30 August, when Carl & The Reda Mafia will perform all 10 album songs to a limited audience.

Photos: The Fridge Concert Series

Want to hear Carl’s awesome vocal range? Then also read: Yas Island Channels The Bee Gees in Chucklesome New Campaign