Shida Shahabi

Good morning.

Today we’re listening to Shida Shahabi, a pianist and composer based in Stockholm. We interviewed her last summer, and recommended her the year prior. Shahabi was born in Sweden to Iranian parents who had fled the war with Iraq.¹ Her early musical influences included the Persian pop her parents played, classical composers like Mozart and Tchaikovsky, and Western bands she saw on MTV (especially the Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine).² This past Friday she released her score for the dance production Sylph, choreographed by Halla Ólafsdóttir. The production is influenced by the narrativeless 1909 ballet Les Sylphides by Michel Fokine as well as ASMR sounds, which together produce in the words of the program a “low intensive euphoria that creates a secret bond between dancer and audience.” We’re also revisiting Shahbi’s 2023 album, Living Circle, whose slow-moving, tender compositions made it one of our favorite releases of last year.

Sylph - Shida Shahabi (40m, subtle wordless vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Bandcamp / Tidal

Living Circle - Shida Shahabi (40m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Bandcamp / Tidal

We wish you a great start to your week.

1. Composer

2. Outermost