Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, and Shahzad Ismaily Announce New Album ‘Love in Exile’, Unveil New Song

    Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, and Shahzad Ismaily have announced a new collaborative album titled Love in Exile. It’s set for release on March 24 via Verve. To mark the announcement, they’ve shared the lead single ‘To Remain/To Return’, which you can check out below, along with the album artwork (by Curry Hackett), tracklist, and the trio’s upcoming tour dates.

    Discussing the collaboration in a press release, Iyer said: “Our music is a process. This fragment of ‘To Remain / To Return’ reveals not just the melody but the birth of a song. I hear Shahzad and myself establishing these haunted cycles, then slowly and delicately transforming them, as Arooj glides across like a dark moon.”

    “This piece holds, at its core, the delicately unfolding emotion of separation anxiety induced fury (see: love, self exile) between two people who are deeply connected,” Aftab commented. “One is leaving and the other is asking them to stay. The former is saying ‘I will leave but I will also return’; in better form for the both of us.”

    Ismaily added: “We all provide the best we can,” adds Shahzad Ismaily. “In my case it’s euclidean rhythms, crystals to hold the oceanic beauty of Vijay’s keys and the silent raven of Arooj’s voice. We grow to the company that we keep; I am both fortunate and grateful.”

    Revisit our Artist Spotlight interview with Arooj Aftab.

    Love in Exile Cover Artwork:

    Love in Exile Tracklist:

    1. To Remain/To Return
    2. Haseen Thi
    3. Shadow Forces
    4. Sajni
    5. Eyes of the Endless
    6. Sharabi
    7. To Remain/To Return (Excerpt)

    Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily 2023 Tour Dates:

    Mar 31 Knoxville, TN – Big Ears Music Festival
    Apr 14 North Bethesda, MD – The Music Center at Strathmore
    Apr 28 Burlington, VT – UVM Recital Hall
    May 7 Krems an der Donau, Austria – Donaufestival, Minoritenkirche
    May 9 Brussels, Belgium – Les Nuits Botanique Festival, Notre Dame Church
    May 11 Luxembourg, Luxembourg – Neimënster
    May 13 Berlin, Germany – XJazz! Festival, Emmauskirche
    May 25 Hamburg, Germany – Elbphilharmonie
    May 29 Zürich, Switzerland – Moods
    May 30 Utrecht, Netherlands – Tivoli Vredenburg
    Jun 2 London, England – The Barbican Centre
    Jun 26 Vancouver, British Columbia – Vancouver Jazz Festival
    Jun 28 Ottawa, Ontario – Ottawa Jazz Festival
    Jun 29 Montréal, Quebec – Montreal Jazz Festival
    Jul 27 North Adams, MA – Bang on a Can’s: Loud Weekend 2023 at Mass MoCA
    Jul 29 Katonah, NY – Caramoor Center for the Arts
    Sep 14 New York, NY – Venue TBA
    Sep 19 San Diego, CA – Epstein Family Amphitheatre
    Sep 20 Los Angeles, CA – Venue TBA
    Sep 21 San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
    Sep 28 Tempe, AZ – Tempe Center for the Arts
    Sep 29 Austin, TX – Venue TBA
    Sep 30 Denver, CO – Venue TBA
    Oct 4 Cleveland, OH Gartner Auditorium at the Cleveland Museum of Art
    Oct 5 Princeton, NJ – Venue TBA
    Oct 7 Blacksburg, VA – Venue TBA
    Oct 8 Boston, MA – Institute of Contemporary Art
    Oct 10 Minneapolis, MN – The Cedar
    Oct 11 Chicago, IL – Venue TBA
    Oct 12 Iowa City, IA – Infinite Dream Festival

    Konstantinos Pappis
    Konstantinos Pappis
    Konstantinos Pappis is a writer, journalist, and music editor at Our Culture. His work has also appeared in Pitchfork, GIGsoup, and other publications. He currently lives in Athens, Greece.

    Arts in one place.

    All our content is free to read; if you want to subscribe to our newsletter to keep up to date, click the button below.

    People are Reading