Tucked subtly into Vulture Prince is “Saans Lo,” a song with words penned by the composer’s late friend Annie Ali Khan, who gently advises us to breathe-to move on. Included on the new album are singles, “Mohabbat” and “Last Night,” an old Rumi poem Aftab often sings live, but has never before released. So here is Vulture Prince-beautiful, powerful, dusky, and, above all, thoughtful. In 2020, Aftab composed music for the Academy Award-shortlisted film Bittu and sang on Residente’s Latin Grammy Award-winning single “Antes Que El Mundo Se Acabe.” On Vulture Prince, she is backed by an all-star cast, including Badi Assad, Maeve Gilchrist, Jamey Haddad, Kenji Herbert, Shazhad Ismaily, Juliette Jones, Petros Klampanis, Nadje Noordhuis, Gyan Riley, and Darian Thomas. Aftab’s music then mirrors her voice, ethereal yet heavy-like a cloud crossed with a boulder.Ī graduate of Berklee College of Music, the composer channels artists from Terry Riley to Abida Parveen, and has played venues from Lincoln Center to (Le) Poisson Rouge to the Museum of Modern Art. The composer has an uncanny ability to make music with layers upon layers of instrumentation, yet somehow it all feels very light, uncluttered, minimal on the ears.

Of course, Aftab’s signature songwriting style also led to Vulture Prince. These sort of shapeshifting elements, the burning desire to embody and lead this mystic ancestral power, growth as a person and musician, all led to Vulture Prince.” “The Tower of Silence comes to mind,” says Aftab, “the Parsi funeral structure where their beloved deceased are left to be consumed by vultures, thus returning to the cycle of life. The lead song, along with the avian album titles, serves to tie the two records together. “E quindi uscimmo a revider la stelle,” as Dante says at last, out of the inferno, “and thence we came forth to see again the stars.”Īcting as a second chapter to Aftab’s 2015 debut, Bird Under Water, Vulture Prince opens with a new composition of “Baghon Main,” a track from her first album.

While writing Vulture Prince Aftab lost her younger brother, Maher, and she dedicates this album to his memory-a signal of emergence from loss and grief. It's about people, friendships, relationships-some relationships that were unexpectedly short term, and how to deal with that.” “ Vulture Prince is about revisiting places I’ve called mine,” says Aftab, “places that don’t necessarily exist anymore.

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