25th April, 2024
26th August, 2020Featuring the ultra-distinctive voice of former Prodigy vocalist Shahin Badar, Sapphire marks the start of a new commitment for producer Dee Montero.
Dee’s back with a brand new record label (Futurescope) and a launch single that’s been 18 months in the making. Dee in the shape of a label inspired by his career and born with reverence to the past, present and future.
But let’s rewind a minute. How did this incredible collaboration come together? Well, Dee was a huge fan of The Prodigy growing up and had always wanted to create his own unique take on Sheila Chandra's Nana, the song that also inspired Liam Howlett so deeply early on in his own career.
And so, as fate would have it, both producers sought out Shahin to work her vocal magic. But it wasn’t easy. “The world is so uncertain,” she laments when we speak to her in Mumbai. “As you know, Keith Flint has gone. And as ever, I am involved in various productions. But this year, when this whole thing started, it took a lot out of me.”
“I heard ’Smack My Bitch Up’ one day and was drawn deeper and deeper into Shahin’s chant and knew I had to contact her,” says Dee of how it came about. “Originally the Prodigy used a direct sample of Sheila Chandra’s song "Nana (The Dreaming)" but after sample clearance issues; Shahin was approached to perform her famed vocal chant. And that’s what really caught my attention.”
As a result of months of hard work, Sapphire really sparkles. “When I started recording, I was pretty concerned about getting the vocals right,” Shahin recalls, still at home in India for the foreseeable future. “But his persistence and patience was incredible: he’s a wonderful guy. And he kept saying: “I ONLY WANT YOU ON THE TRACK!” And it came out amazing, really wonderful. Dee is a wonderful producer and it was my first experience with a producer who pushed me this hard and I felt like I needed to deliver. If he hadn’t pushed me, I wouldn’t have moved to the level we got to. Credit to him for pushing me! I’m thankful. Dee, she says, is not only a great producer but also stayed in touch once the track was in the can, sending video of the music in motion. She smiles. It’s so great to know he was getting such a great response in India! I saw people jumping around to the track. That’s so positive. I was thrilled.”
As well as working with Dee, she’s also been working on a tribute to Keith Flint, with Celt Islam and Inder Goldfinger.
Adds Shahin, “Making this other track has really helped. Keith was an icon and I still feel his presence and doing this track really helped me to heal. If you’ve heard the idea that music is a gateway to opening up buried emotions. I was extremely emotional. That’s what got me interested. And I shed some tears during recording! I could see his face in front of me.”
But back to the jewel in the proverbial crown we go. From the melancholic drones of the Indian tanpura rooting the songs key, Shahin Bader is free to float over the top of this sparkling Sapphire. The effervescent vocals drift between the grooving grids of timeless house sounds. Dee Montero’s drum programming is impeccable, blending fluffy interlocking hi-hats with a solid 4x4 kick and dashes of his 909 drum machine between. The synths provide washes of colour, from the ascending arpeggios that swell to the symphonic, string-like pads. Dee works in a precision slice of bassline that bounces brilliantly between the kicks and claps and holds the low end intact throughout the tune.
So, given his guest vocalist Shahn’s involvement on Sapphire as the launch track, it makes this project feel something like a full circle for Dee and his life in music. “With all its celestial hues my inspiration for ’Sapphire’ came from the stone of wisdom,” he says. “In the ancient world its heavenly blue signified the height of celestial hope and faith and was believed to bring protection and spiritual insight”
The debut single Sapphire featuring the super distinctive voice of Shahin Badar, Sapphire signals the start of a new era for Dee Montero.
Click on the link below to watch the video;
