“Junun” is the debut album of composer Shye Ben Tzur, Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood and Indian ensemble Rajasthan Express. The album was originally released in November 2015 and was recorded in an improvised studio in the 15th century Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur, India. Radiohead’s long-time producer Nigel Godrich contributed to the album and released it as a double LP and CD. Now “Junun” is being reissued for the 10th anniversary of the album. This special edition will be released as a double LP in a gatefold cover on yellow-orange marbled vinyl and as a CD in a digisleeve.
It contains compositions by Ben Tzur, which involve Sufi Qawwal musicians with vocals in Urdu and Hebrew. Greenwood contributed guitar, bass, keyboards, ondes martenot and programming, and emphasized the sparing use of chords, focusing instead on North Indian ragas. The aim of the recordings was to capture the originality of Indian music and to avoid the high sound quality often found in world music recordings
. The making of “Junun” was documented by acclaimed filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson and offers an intimate insight into the creative process and vibrant everyday life during album production. His film, also titled “Junun”, premiered at the New York Film Festival in October 2015. ” “Junun” (an alternative spelling of “Junoon”, which means “mania” or “love madness”) has been critically acclaimed, including Album of the Year by the Sunday Times, which described it as “one of the most inspired releases of the year” and “fascinating, multi-layered and definitely worth listening to”. The group also performed as a support act for Radiohead’s “Moon Shaped Pool” tour in 2018 under the name Junun.
