will release her debut album ‘Khudgarzi’ on November 20th.

The American composer infuses her work with a deep awareness and respect for South Asian traditions, resulting in something both, gothic, and tinged with something personal.

Working with esteemed label Erased Tapes, work on her debut album has taken years, with refining her sonic techniques in the process.

Out on November 20th, ‘Khudgarzi’ finds the composer re-framing ‘selfishness’ within her life, and setting out new boundaries for her creative practise.

“Selfishness became a kind of silent prayer,” Sheherazaad recalls. “A portal into a haunted universe of anxieties and desires. I was made to fear a ‘selfish’ kind of woman – embracing her felt like stepping into a forbidden forest I’d been running away from.”

Mostly sung in Urdu, with passages in English and Tamil, new song ‘Andhera’ leads the way. Translating as ‘darkness’ it’s both foreboding and beautiful, a work of conflicting emotions.

Landing ahead of her set at End Of The Road Festival, Sheherazaad says of the song:

“I wrote Andhera (Darkness) after I’d met the love of my life, where for some reason, romantic gloom and obscurity was still bleeding out of me. The song was largely composed in an ex’s coat closet as I tried to keep my volume down lest I interrupted what I felt was his “real” work outside. So I’d sing at the rock bottom of my vocal range, praising feminine darkness and the ancient murky cosmos. It became a frilly goth anthem, with eyeliner running down its cheeks, where the beloved is essentially just the color black.”

Tune in now.