Ayah Marar hails from Jordan, via the United Kingdom and is in such esteemed company as Jack Penate and Calvin Harris at the moment, “playing make music”. A glance at her myspace
AYAH MARAR on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads reveals a busy summer season that coincides with the release of "My Spy".
"My Spy" opens with a big distorted guitar, a big synth bass and immediately, we recognise that the song is well produced. There is a nice male vocal snippet that forms the backing rhythm and Ayah Marar herself has a nice, soulful voice that leads the song ably. Ayah Marar sounds a little like Amy Winehouse and I can only guess that is why the like of Penate and Harris want to work with her, she may be the cheaper, less destructive choice, while at the same time showing equal signs of a great deal of talent.
"My Spy" is a song that I think is trying to become a James Bond number, full of swagger, sway and more than hint of Soulful modern Jazz. Perhaps Marar holds a dream of one day being a Bond girl, who knows, and features the lyrics “I spy with my little eye, you see he is my little Spy”, hmmmm indeed.
The single also contains a “dancy” remix, probably made for the clubs, by Toddla T. He calls it indie/ghetto himself, which is almost an oxymoron isn’t it? The production on the remix is pretty tight and Toddla T has produced a song that has more than a nod towards Reggae while still keeping the dance sensibilities of Tribal House at its heart. It even containing a rave whistle, a wobbly bass line and some “ghetto” rapping thrown in for good measure, probably just to cover all bases.
In fairness, the record company may have thought of including a sort of stripped down/Acapella version on the single as well, if for nothing other than to show of Ayah Mara’s voice. She has a soulful sound that contains funkiness and emotion, yet this single doesn’t really do it justice.
We will probably hear more from Marar in the future, as Calvin Harris has the ability to produce well received pieces of Pop, and My Spy will certainly not be the most successful release that Marar will be involved in. I may be wrong, but I don’t think so.