Speed Caravan started performing as a trio: Haddab, with bass player and long-time friend Pascal ‘Pasco’ Teillet; and electronic beat mistress and former Ekova member, Hermione Frank. Word of mouth spread, as audiences marvelled at Haddab’s flamboyant, frenetic style (not for nothing has he been called the Hendrix of the oud); at the way Pasco’s bass underlined the oud’s arabesques; at the way Frank grooved at her computer. Later the trio were joined by deft percussion skills and throaty vocals of Moroccan-born Mohamed ‘Simo’ Bouamar, who kept the vibe firmly in the East.

In just a few years Portico Quartet’s hypnotic music has taken them from busking on London’s South Bank, to a Mercury Prize nomination, to performing at the Royal Opera House (with support from Wiley and Chipmunk) and recording at Abbey Road with producer John Leckie. Famed as a nurturer of young bands (Stone Roses, Radio Head etc), Leckie has brought a powerful clarity to the band’s music and Isla is a darker, more mature, expansive statement than their debut, Knee-Deep In The North Sea. However, it is still very much a Portico Quartet album.