The American-Indian musician Sheherazaad captivates listeners with her sophomore track ‘Dhund Lo Mujhe’ from the forthcoming mini-album ‘Qasr’, painting a poignant picture she refers to as “this circus of the insane, carnival of the unhappy.” This evocative song, produced by Grammy-awarded Pakistani singer-composer Arooj Aftab, marries dramatic percussion with the melancholic twine of violin strains to underscore Sheherazaad’s hauntingly resonant voice.
Through ‘Dhund Lo Mujhe’, Sheherazaad delves deep into the complexities of the immigrant psyche, touching upon various nuanced experiences ranging from religious tensions to sexual emancipation. The song’s narrative captures the descent into lunacy of a woman who, amidst the chaos, crowns herself ‘this country’s crazy queen’. Sheherazaad’s vocals paint her as the embodiment of a progressive India, deconstructing the model minority myth that often stereotypes Asian-American minority groups as needing little assistance.
Her lyrics are a foray into reinventing folklore, stripping down the mythos laid upon her community. Weaving words into the lush soundscape of independent label Erased Tapes, ‘Dhund Lo Mujhe’ follows on the heels of the album’s debut song ‘Mashoor’, which examined the vulnerability of fame. This track continues the conversation by juxtaposing the stereotypical narratives against a backdrop of individual and communal identity crisis.
The choice of language is also significant. ‘Qasr’s’ alternative-folk ballads intertwine Urdu and Hindi. Sheherazaad’s own disillusionment with English as a vehicle for emotional expression stems from its colonial baggage, accentuating her transnational identity crisis. This inner turmoil is mirrored in her music: in India, she grappled with her mixed North and South Indian heritage that left her feeling out of place, too American in one land and too Indian in another. The dichotomy led to a realization that to express the full range of her experience, she would have to inhabit the ‘cracks’ between cultures.
Raised in an Asian-American household that fervently celebrated the arts, Sheherazaad was influenced by the works of Lata Mangeshkar and RD Burman. Engaging with a diverse array of musical disciplines, she was trained in jazz, the American Songbook and, later in life, Hindustani classical music under the guidance of Madhuvanti Bhide. Her fluency in Arabic, Hindi, and Urdu, which she studied in the late 2010s, adds further texture to her multifaceted musical expression.
Her lyrics share the origins of ‘Qasr’, rooted in a period defined by familial estrangement and a poignant loss, set against the backdrop of racial division in the United States. Aftab’s role in naming the album, meaning ‘castle’ or ‘fortress’ in Urdu, is symbolic of its intent—to encapsulate the narrative of displacement, diasporic tensions, and the bitterness of cultural erasure, while also creating a sanctuary against personal and political storms.
The making of ‘Dhund Lo Mujhe’ was also a reflection of Sheherazaad’s personal journey when she visited India during the Covid pandemic as her paternal grandfather was dying. Starting with a simple piano and vocal base, the song was transformed with Aftab’s insight into a sparse yet playful string arrangement, the incorporation of evocative percussion, and vital violin parts by Basma Edrees, which conversed eloquently with Sheherazaad’s singing—the two elements becoming inseparable forces in the song’s narrative.
Adopting the artiste name Sheherazaad was a conscious decision, inspired by the legendary storyteller of ‘One Thousand and One Nights’ and the meaning of ‘free city’ in Hindi and Urdu. This alias signifies Sheherazaad’s wish to carve out a bold, queer dreamscape, unbound by societal norms. She reflects on the solitary nature of her path as an Indian-American musician, describing it as an odyssey into unknown waters, looking for cohorts, or “tribespeople,” to navigate the confluence of influences and expectations.
Finally, Sheherazaad prepares to share her powerful storytelling with the world, as ‘Qasr’ will grace music platforms come March 1, promising listeners a voyage through her intense emotional landscape, rendered in song.
