Today sees the release of Charsi, the new single from Afghan singer Elaha Soroor and music/producer duo Kefaya (Al MacSween & Giuliano Modarelli). The single is taken from their forthcoming album Songs Of Our Mothers which will be released via Bella Union on 27th September.
Afghan Star is a TV show which has been running for 14 years and has become more widely known outside of Afghanistan for all the wrong reasons. Earlier this year, BBC Radio 4 ran a documentary on their Art of Now series. It looked at the personal stories of female singers being persecuted for singing on the show, including death threats. Even one of the show’s judges, Afghanistan’s most famous woman pop star Aryana Sayeed, is constantly accompanied by an armed guard.
Elaha, who came to popularity through the show, also found herself in personal danger for singing and for her outspoken views on women’s rights. She fled Afghanistan and came to London as a refugee. Through this new project, she’s able to touch on her own experiences as well as the struggle faced by many other female artists. In an accompanying documentary (also below), the narrator mentions how great musicians hold a mirror to humanity, as the accompanying press explains, historically, it was the US and Western-backed regimes that came to dominate Afghanistan in the latter part of the 20th century that created a climate of heightened patriarchal oppression and persecution of women.
Talking about the collaboration, Al MacSween & Giuliano Modarelli said “Our first album was very eclectic with multiple different styles and languages. Although there are still many different musical influences on this album, we liked the idea of collaborating with a specific artist and concept and felt Elaha had something very special to offer both artistically and politically.”
Watch the video for their first single Charsi which is released today:
The album features contributions from a host of world-renowned musicians, including Mohsen Namjoo (voice), Manos Achalinotopolous (clarinet), Yazz Ahmed (flugelhorn), Sarathy Korwar (tabla/dolak),Tamar Osborn (baritone sax), Sardor Mirzakhojaev (dambura), Gurdain Singh Rayatt (tabla), Jyotsna Srikanth (violin), Camilo Tirado (live electronics) and Sam Vickary (double bass).
Pre-Order here: https://smarturl.it/songs_of_our_mothers
UK Dates
31st August – London – EFG London Jazz Festival (Summer Stage)
8th September – Nottingham – Arts Mela Festival
28th September – London – Rough Trade East
30th September – Bristol – Rough Trade Bristol
5th October – Birmingham – Birmingham Weekender
9th October – London – Rich Mix
More: https://www.kefaya.co.uk/