With the ongoing women-led uprising in Iran calling for change, the timing couldn't be better for the return of the award-winning Israeli-Persian singer Liraz and her third album. Released today on Glitterbeat Records, "Roya" (meaning 'fantasy' in Farsi) brings us "an exhilarating blend of tradi-modern rhythms and retro-Persian sonics," reminiscent of the lively pre-revolution Iranian pop scene. The eleven new tracks were recorded in Istanbul alongside musicians from Tehran over the course of ten days earlier this year, in an underground studio hidden away from public view yet offering a unique vision of a possible future, "a musical portal to a place of peace, joy and unfettered, chador-waving freedom."
In her music, Liraz has always made it a point to emphasise the ambiguity of her background and the hope for a better, freer tomorrow. Her 2018-released debut album "Naz" was "a collection of mainly pre-revolutionary pop songs by her favourite female Iranian singers [...] that lit up Iran's social media." Her follow-up 2020-released sophomore album "Zan" (meaning 'women' in Farsi) was an ode to her own female peers and the women who personally inspired her song. And now "Roya" is the fantasy of "the past and present overlapping," a dream come true. "I sing that it is not one day we are going to meet. We are already here with each other, in the now. So let us enjoy being together," she says.
"Roya" presents a lush sonic interior produced by multi-instrumentalist Uri Brauner Kinrot that transcends time and space in style. Liraz and her sextet (three women, three men) have conjured up the spirit of pop as it should be: infectious, heartfelt, danceable and inspiring. Channeling her Iranian heritage, carrying a feeling of longing and belonging, Liraz has yet again managed to conjure up the musical image of a country many of us have yet to visit in person. And in doing so, she continues to raise a voice and add colour to her powerful vision of peace, unity and freedom from oppression.
You can stream the full album below and watch the companion music video to "Roya".
Liraz will be touring Germany next month:
November 02 Hamburg, Knust
November 03 Berlin, Gretchen
November 04 Frankfurt, Kunstverein Familie Montez