Sheherazaad Releases EP 'Qasr' Accompanied By Mumbai Show, Workshop & Mural

There are no simple vocal melodies on Sheherazaad's EP 'Qasr' which just released via the famed London label Erased Tapes. Over minimal arrangements, the Indian-descent San Francisco-based composer-vocalist's reverberating voice cascades and soars across scales with the drama of cinema or musical theatre – sometimes settling on the respite and melodic relinquish of near-spoken phrases.

Produced by Grammy-winning artist Arooj Aftab, the progressively structured compositions and their poetic and dramatic while still being direct and literal lyricism focus on imagined homelands and marginalised experiences.

Sheherazaad grew up singing jazz and American songbook repertoire before being disenchanted from the English language before discovering other diaspora artists. “I felt determined to resurrect and recalibrate my singing voice”, she says, “to participate in this new wave I saw of diasporic music innovation and its links with political liberation.”

To accompany the release, Sheherazaad will also host a show at Mumbai's Soho House on March 8 and another at G5A on March 9 with an all-women band before hosting a 3-day experimental workshop between March 9-11 around "sound healing mechanisms, movement technique, modalities of storytelling & compositional approach". The musician along with the artist agency Wavlngth and Mumbai-venue Soho House will host mural painting at the city's Juhu Beach across Soho House to create 'Azaad Sheher Mural'. The artwork honours Women's Day and asks artists from gender-expansive communities, namely Li, Sanoli Mahajan and Priya Dali, to respond to the question ‘What is a free city?’ and take inspiration from 'Qasr'.

Listen to the EP below and follow Sheherazaad for more information.