2 weeks Ago By NEWS WIRE
LONDON - After a pair of low-key, introspective albums, Ed Sheeran has returned to his roots with a shimmering new pop single, Azizam. The track sees the star incorporate Middle Eastern influences, inspired by producer Illya Salmanzadeh’s Persian heritage. The title means “my dear” or “my darling” in Farsi, and the track incorporates instruments like the ghatam, a clay pot commonly used as percussion in Southern India, and the santur, a hammered dulcimer of Iranian origin.
“Now the song’s finished, and it’s out, I’m discovering more and more every single day that Persians are really, really proud of their culture, and it’s great to celebrate it,” Sheeran told BBC Radio 1. Azizam is released in a crowded week for new music, with comeback songs by Miley Cyrus, Wet Leg and Elton John all vying for streams. Sheeran’s track doesn’t stray too far from his usual pop template, but the Persian influences will undoubtedly bolster his figures in the Middle East - the world’s fastest-growing music market.
Trump says ‘very close to a deal’ on TikTok It’s a trick the star has pulled before. A voracious music fan with an instinct for new commercial opportunities, he’s collaborated with Afrobeats stars like Burna Boy and Fireboy DML, learned Spanish for a record with Colombian singer J Balvin, tipped his hat to Irish folk music on Galway Girl, and even sang in Punjabi during a recent concert in Mumbai. Talking about the creation of Azizam, the star said he’d had “a hell of a lot of fun” immersing himself in Persian music.
“I loved how a lot of rhythms, scales, melodies and instruments were different but similar to the Irish trad music I had grown up with.” The inspiration came Salmanzadeh, an Iranian-born Swedish songwriter, who has previously scored major hits with Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé. “One day he was just like, ‘I would love to make something within the culture that I come from’ and that’s how it was sparked,” Sheeran told Radio 1’s Greg James.
4 space tourists splash down after traveling an orbit never attempted before “It’s [become] the first single of an album that is super playful and celebratory.” Tags: sheeran weaves persian.
