Jonny Greenwood says he had to “unlearn” elements of Western music theory during the making of new album Jarak Qaribak: “There’s times where you have to really step away and not impose what you think is a major or minor chord on something”

Jonny Greenwood

Jonny Greenwood has admitted that he had to “unlearn” certain elements of Western music theory during the making of Jarak Qaribak, the new album that he recently released with Israeli musician Dudu Tassa.

Each of the nine tracks on Jarak Qaribak - which roughly translates as ‘your neighbour is your friend’ - features a different singer from a different country in the Middle East. Each of them was asked to interpret a song from a Middle Eastern country other than their own.