On previous solo outings, and in her work with Transglobal Underground and Jah Wobble, the sultry Natacha Atlas has adapted her voice to music from all over the globe. Her heart--and background--is very much in the Middle East, and on Halim she"s made her own Middle Eastern record. It"s not traditional, by any means, but it"s in the tradition: songs of love and spirit. In terms of arrangements there are plenty of concessions to the West, but there"s absolutely no doubt where it"s all rooted. This is all for the best. Atlas is a world-class singer, but on these songs she can really let herself go, reach back into herself and squeeze out every ounce of emotion. The centerpiece, though, is "Ya Ahli Ehda," recorded in Cairo with an Egyptian orchestra, where you can almost feel the dry heat in your face. It"s saying a great deal, but Halim might be the most potent record steeped in the past of the eastern Mediterranean since Ofra Haza"s Fifty Gates of Wisdom. It"s that good. --Chris Nickson