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Arooj Aftab: Night Reign review – all the heat and mystery of nocturnal life
Mercurial and moody soundscapes are infused with wistful romance in one of the Grammy-winning singer and composer’s most spirited records to date
Her debut Bird Under Water in 2014 paired Urdu poetry with sitar and drums, while 2021’s Grammy-winning breakthrough Vulture Prince replaced percussion with lively strings, and 2023’s collaborative record Love in Exile with Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily used only synth trills and piano to create an ambient backing for Aftab’s whispers. Opening track Aey Nehin evokes a nighttime lover’s longing, intricately interweaving Kaki King and Gyan Riley’s acoustic guitars with Maeve Gilchrist’s harp to produce a luscious harmonic bed for Aftab’s keening phrases. Rather than repackage the shuffling polyrhythms and falsetto melodies that characterise Astatke’s sound, Mesfin carves out his own intriguing sonic identity, letting notes hang over sparse percussion and handclaps, breaking down rhythms to their barest essentials.
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