In Istanbul, a group of six Israelis and five Iranians (including several women) assembled in secrecy… One could be forgiven for mistaking this as the start of some lost page of Middle Eastern political history. It is, in fact, the brilliant third album by Liraz. The Iranian musicians aren’t named in the album’s credits to ensure their safety. Born in Israel to Iranian Jewish parents who were exiled in the 1960s, Liraz Charhi has also lived in Los Angeles. Her international upbringing means she’s not afraid to explore all the cultures that have shaped her. Liraz sings in Farsi, with the expressivity of a Middle Eastern diva. You only have to listen to the final track on this album, ‘Roya’, in its acoustic version with traditional instruments, to understand that Liraz does anything but pretend. Her powerful vocals are full of nuance and don’t require any sort of deceptive production. Like a Persian blues dramatist, her heart is heavy, and her eyes brim with tears, but dance music is also ingrained deep within her soul. In Farsi, Roya means fantasy, and the album’s title track is certainly a beautiful one - a psychedelic cavalcade that evokes the soundtrack of an eastern-style spaghetti western. After this sure-fire hit, Liraz leads her songs to the dancefloor: irresistible pop and psychedelic neo-disco, where strings and lutes merge with synthetic rhythms and effects pedals. An epic underlying theme runs throughout this album, like a hopeful echo of the revolution that’s shaking Iran in 2022. © Stéphane Deschamps/Qobuz