The New York Times called Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan the greatest Qawwali singer of all time. For many, his voice was the first to introduce Western audiences to this form of Sufi devotional music. Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records signed Khan in 1989 and released Shahen-Shah (brightest star), which helped launch the label. The ecstatic joy conveyed in that music was remarkable and mesmerising – heightened by his rapid scat-like vocals.
While Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan died young, aged 48, in 1997, he left an extensive discography, as if no stone was left unturned in recovering and sharing the numerous live concert recordings with the world. It’s somewhat miraculous that a new album, a lost studio recording no less, is only now seeing the light of day. The icing on the cake is that this recording was made at Peter Gabriel’s highly revered and respected Real World Studios in April 1990 while he worked on Mustt Mustt, his seminal crossover album with Canadian producer Michael Brook.
The ‘lost album’—Chain of Light—was discovered in the tape archives of Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records. The label signed Khan in 1989 and released a series of universally acclaimed albums with him throughout the 1990s. The launch of the album is being supported in part by the British Council.
Khan is joined by his eight-strong party of singers and musicians. Chain of Light presents four traditional qawwals (Sufi Islamic devotional songs)—including one that has never been heard before—and captures Khan at the height of his vocal capabilities in pristine sonic quality.
Khan’s relationship with Peter Gabriel and Real World Records began after his watershed performance at the 1985 WOMAD festival, which was the first time he performed to a predominantly Western audience. Shortly after that historic festival set, he was signed to the label, and his international profile rose through a collaboration on Gabriel’s 1989 album Passion, which was featured in the movie The Last Temptation of Christ.
“I’ve had the privilege to work with a tonne of different musicians from all over the world in my time, but perhaps the greatest singer of them all was Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan,” says Peter Gabriel. “What he could do and make you feel with his voice was quite extraordinary and we were very proud to have played a role in getting him to a much wider global audience. It was a real delight when we found out this tape had been in our library. This album really shows him at his peak. It’s a wonderful record.”
Buried deep in a warehouse storage space at Real World Studios and unearthed whilst the label was relocating its archive in 2021, the April 1990 tape recording that comprises Chain of Light finds Khan at a crossroads, on the cusp of global greatness.
“1990 was a key point in Nusrat’s career, it was the beginning of him crossing over into a western audience,” Khan’s longtime international manager, Rashid Ahmed-Din, says. “Everything just clicked. He always wanted to experiment and not be limited to one sound and these tracks express that movement beyond.”
“There is an amazing clarity to these performances,” producer Michael Brook says of the recordings. “They are more harmonically adventurous than the other songs that Nusrat was recording at the time and the whole group is firing on all cylinders.”
Fans of the great maestro will also be thrilled to learn that the definitive documentary film on Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s life is in the making. Saiyna Bashir Studios, an Islamabad-based company, will release their labour of Love biopic Ustad at the end of 2025. The film will tell the untold story of one of the world’s greatest singers, featuring rare and unseen archive footage with contributions from a cast of close family, friends, collaborators and fans. Earlier this year, Saiyna Bashir Studios received a grant from the British Council to support Real World Records to promote Chain of Light.
Reflecting on the significance of this album, producer Michael Brook says, “It touches you; it is a once in a lifetime experience. Like the immanent light of the record’s title, these songs are transformative and transcendent in a way that crosses languages and cultures. It draws the listener in, no matter their expectations. Thank God, or whatever you believe in: the voice has returned.”
Chain of Light is out on 20th September 2024 on Real World Records. CD, standard LP, and limited edition LP versions of the album are available now for pre-order. Ustad, the feature-length documentary film, will premiere in late 2025.
Pre-order link: lnk.to/RW256
Chain of Light Tracklisting
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Party
1. Ya Allah Ya Rehman
A much loved classic Qawwal, first performed by Nusrat Language: Urdu
2. Aaj Sik Mitran Di
Written by the Sufi saint Peer Meher Ali Shah
Language: Punjabi
3. Ya Gaus Ya Meeran
Written by the Sufi saint Nasir Udin Nasir, grandson of Peer Meher Ali Shah
Language: Urdu
4. Khabram Raseed Imshab
From Nusrat’s family repertoire, sung by his father and uncle. Originally comes from Amir Khusro, the ‘father of Qawwali’
Language: Persian
Releases September 20, 2024
Recorded on 29th April 1990 in The Wood Room, Real World Studios
Recorded by David Bottrill
Assisted by Richard Blair
Tape restoration and digitisation by FX Copyroom
Mixed by Craig Conard with Michael Brook at Lavanderia Studio, December 2022
Produced by Michael Brook
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (vocals, harmonium)
Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan (vocals, harmonium)
Dildar Hussain (tabla)
Mujahid Ali (senior chorus)
Rehmat Ali (chorus)
Rahat Ali (chorus)
Asad Ali (chorus)
Ghulam Farid (chorus)
Khalid Mahmood (chorus)
Sleeve notes by Ammar Kalia
Translations and research by Rashid Ahmed Din