Newly signed to Erased Tapes, Sheherazaad blends contemporary Western folk with elements of South Asian music to create atmospheric soundscapes. Her lyrics, meanwhile, modernise traditional Hindi-Urdu poetic tropes.
Her debut single ‘Mashoor’ sees her juxtaposing the glamour and discomfort surrounding the experience of fame. It also tackles the inherent narcissism in the way some people, institutions and countries present themselves.
The name Sheherazaad is taken from a character in the Middle Eastern collection of folktales ‘The One Thousand And One Nights’. She explains: “She has been a favourite and beloved character of mine since childhood for her ferocious storytelling ability that saves lives”.
“Also”, she goes on, “in Hindi and Urdu, Sheherazaad translates to ‘Free City’. I love the idea of a person, especially a woman, being a kind of ‘city’ entity in and of themselves. In the South Asian context, this idea of ‘sheher’ - city - is more visceral with metropolises historically being centres for innovation, forward-thinking, and more social mobility for women specifically”.
