2. Night Reign - Arooj Aftab
Night Reign by Arooj Aftab is a soft melancholic ode to night and all it has to offer the soul
Do you ever listen to a body of work and immediately get transported elsewhere? Especially for me, someone who loves to ties music to era, seasons, feelings, moments, finding bodies of work that can evoke a certain sense is always a treat. Think — a warm evening, just past the sun setting, somewhere in a soft grassy knoll. The warmth still radiating through you, a slight breeze tickling your face. The swell of the music elevating your blood stream, a lightness in your form. The tiredness behind your eyes dissipates a bit, forgetting briefly everything that led to its existence. There is a calm in the air, despite the build up of the breeze, which never amounts to much more than that — allowing you to just be, there, in that moment, nothing more, nothing less.
I first learned of Arooj Aftab when she was nominated for the 2021 Grammy’s for her song Mohabbat from album Vulture Prince (which did win Best Global Performance). The way she blended sounds and genres really sprung to mind my own personal history with music - growing up in a diaspora between two worlds, one foot in my cultural musical traditions and one foot in the Western styles that surrounded my every day life. I first got to see her live performing with trio project Love In Exile, which includes pianist Vijay Iyer and multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily. An experimental album that is equal parts haunting, melancholic, and dreamlike, I was eager to see what came next.
Night Reign is an emphatic album, pulling together themes of nigh and dark, light and joy, melancholy and romance, all in a free flowing, musically experimental package. I had the pleasure of attending a release day signing at Rough Trade, where Aftab sang 3 tracks and discussed bits of the album. She lamented that the sun hadn’t set at the time the show started, stating that the album was centered around themes of night and the lighting outside did not match the vibe. This particularly struck a chord with me — I love knowing that a piece has a setting, a moment where it centers on. I was determined then, to listen to and understand the work at night time. Putting the vinyl on once the sun had set, putting my home lights on a dimmer setting and just letting the music envelope, yes, this was truly the way this album needed to be consumed. (Perhaps, also with a glass of whiskey, though I did not partake).
Working across genres blending jazz, pop, classical, neo-Sufi, amongst others, Aftab’s work always strikes a chord deep in the soul. Her voice is airy yet deep, a huskiness that creates an airflow that pulls you along with her in every which direction she chooses to take you. I was deeply interested in the way she focuses the harp as her main background instrument, rather than a piano as is traditionally done in jazz. The lightness and almost bouncy nature of the harp creates a dissonance with the husky tones of her voice, but paired together creates an intoxicating melody that pulls you in as a listener. Noticeably, there is rarely any percussion used1 yet the music never feels stalled or lacking in rhythm.
As the title Night Reign implies, despite existing in a nocturnal state of darkness, there is a power over the dark with bursts of light.
Sit with your friends; don’t go back to sleep
Don’t sink like a fish to the bottom of the sea.
Life’s water flows from darkness.
Search the darkness don’t run from it.
Night travelers are full of light,
and you are, too; don’t leave this companionship.
Be a wakeful candle in a golden dish,
don’t slip into the dirt like quick silver.
The moon appears for the night travelers,
be watchful when the moon is full.
“Search the Darkness,” Rumi, from The Pocket Rumi, ed. by Kabir Helminski
Thank you for tuning in.
Night Reign, Arooj Aftab, by Andy Cush, Pitchfork Review: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/arooj-aftab-night-reign/