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Jazz, Folk, World, & Country.  Zeer bijzonder.

This week sees the release of Qasr (1st March), the debut mini-album from American composer and vocalist Sheherazaad, the latest signing to Erased Tapes. Her haunting debut single, “Mashoor”, justifiably caused intense excitement. In the accompanying video, Sheherazaad is joined by Ria Modak, whose intricate and beautifully delicate guitar lines introduce the song and album before we hear the mellifluous, smoky vocals of Sheher. Later in the song, Modak adds some beautiful shades of flamenco that, while capable of suggesting love, anger, pain and joy, here carry a warning about the societal obsession with fame and narcism. The tapestry that Sheher weaves throughout Qasr is innovative, rewarding and complex, although her eventual path to this album was far from straightforward. Tara Joshi’s background notes are filled with disorientating twists and turns, suggesting a life that’s almost been in a constant state of flux.


In terms of shaping the music of Qasr, this is strongly tied to Sheher’s identity, something that remained in the forefront of mind while listening and which also adds to its emotional impact. Her journey saw her give up her western singing repertoire entirely after encountering British Colonial history and a growing “disenchantment with English as an emotive language”. Adding complexity and disorientation to this was her North and South Indian heritage and long periods spent staying in India. The waters calmed with the discovery of a radical South Asian arts community in New York. This led to her discovering the UK’s historic Asian electronic counterculture and eventually meeting the Pakistan-born, Brooklyn-based Arooj Aftab, who also produced and plays on this album.

Despite being just five tracks, it feels like there’s a lifetime of work threaded through this album, the creation of which must have swayed from the cathartic to the ecstatic. She blows away all expectations and tears down all myths, creating a narrative that draws on a global cast of musicians, including Basma Edrees (Egypt), Gilbert Mansour (Lebanon), and Firas Zreik (Palestine).

I’ve never heard an album like this…ever. From the jaunty carnivalesque Dhund Lo Mujhe (on which there is “…implied bloodshed, glamour, hallucination, and schizophrenia”), we are taken on a nostalgic palm tree swaying Californian surf trip (Koshish) before the subdued and slow-burning Khatam…brings you reeling back down from the clouds. Without translation, Khatam is an incredibly emotive listen – so take your first listen without reading notes to appreciate its multi-layered character.

The final seven-minute track, Lehja, begins as a piano piece, but, as with all the tracks on this album, there are so many layers to Qasr, the orchestrations are intricate, playful, moving and frequently surprising as are the stories behind each song. In this final song, we’re told how the “song brings to life a mythical city she refers to as “Sheher” (a meta-reference to her artist persona). Lehja examines the turmoil that may surround mother tongue, pronunciation, and the fight to preserve disappearing ancestral languages. The song culminates in a refrain of “azaadi”, a chant that serves as an unequivocal call for freedom across much of South and Southwest Asia, closing the album as mysteriously as it begins.”

On Qasr, Sheherazaad allows herself complete freedom of expression, something you never lose sense of when listening. Her defiance and courage translates into some of the most wondrous and exhilarating music I’ve ever heard. There isn’t another album like it; it’s transformational, and everyone should own a copy.

Tracks:
01. Mashoor
02. Dhund Lo Mujhe
03. Koshish
04. Khatam
05. Lehja

Staat er compleet op, 10% pars mee gepost. Met zeer veel dank aan de originele poster. Laat af en toe eens weten wat je van het album vindt. Altijd leuk, de mening van anderen. Oh ja, MP3 doe ik niet aan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyxov4IpEJ0