Yusuf Islam channels Turkish poet for new album

NEW YORK: British singer Yusuf Islam has channeled Turkish poet Yunus Emre for a song about divine love in his latest album.

“See What Love Did To Me” is the first single off “The Laughing Apple,” which will come out Sept. 15 and mark Islam’s fourth album since he ended a three-decade retreat from music following his conversion to Islam.

The song is dominated by the gentle and joyous folk guitar that characterized the English artist’s hits in the 1970s such as “Wild World,” “Father and Son” and “Peace Train.”

Yet Islam, who was formally known as Cat Stevens, adds in global influences. An African lute subtly accompanies his guitar around the chorus, while a bridge halfway through the song reaches into the synthesized string orchestrations of Bollywood.

Islam sings of love as he looks at the miracles of nature and the force of the divine. “I was a blindfolded bumble-bee / And now I see what God did for me / He made me see life flowery,” he sings. In a statement, Islam said the lyrics were inspired by verses from Yunus Emre, one of the classic poets from Turkey.

Emre, who was born in the 13th century, had a formative influence on the development of Turkish, choosing to write in the language rather than in Farsi or Arabic.

Born in London to a Greek Cypriot father and Swedish mother, Islam won a wide international following in the early 1970s but said he felt a need for a greater spiritual path. The singer, who turned 69 on Friday, embraced Islam in 1977. He gave few concerts for the next three decades before returning with an album in 2006.