Love From Syria

In April 2018, Love From Syria was produced as a sound piece created in collaboration with Syrian refugee families who Roshi Nasehi met during a residency at the Kings Arms project in Bedford in April 2018 - as part of a commission from Bedford Music In Detention.

Roshi Nasehi is a Welsh born singer-composer of Iranian parentage with a strong track record in live performance, collaboration, recording and workshops. Roshi's songs reflect her origins, influences and experiences in a personal highly individual way accompanied by unusual piano or keyboard arrangements, vocal loops and effects - they are reflective, melodic and quirky. When she interprets Iranian song it is in a personal style bringing a contemporary twist combined with an authentic understanding of context and language.

Here's what Roshi had to say about this peice:

During the residency, the group shared many traditional Syrian songs and stories, which I recorded. This piece is derived from two individual recordings of a husband, Mahmoud, and his wife, Yaman, singing the traditional Syrian Love song, "Lamma Bada Yatathanna". We explored singing the song through echoes and delay effects. I then time-stretched the audio to make a seven minute track. Each minute represents a year of the Syrian war.

The piece seeks to reflect their feelings about the last seven years, as expressed in their own words; intense fear. Depression. The breaking of personalities as well as our homes and towns.