Iranian-Australian artist Parissa Tosif will release her debut solo album ‘I have this memory of you’ on March 26th.
The singer comes from an Iranian family, yet due to the ongoing political difficulties in the country Parissa has never set foot in Iran. Recently, she’s become more and more connected to her family, her heritage, and to the memories and reflection of Iran she uncovers there.
Taking this into the studio, new album ‘I have this memory of you’ reflects that journey. Out on March 26th, the record speaks to fundamental truths about identity, and how we root ourselves.
She introduces the project by commenting…
“This project has made me so deeply reflect on my relationship to place. One that I will never visit, that is such a fundamental part of who I am, and how I look, and how the world interacts with me. This album is a meditation on belonging to a place I’ve never seen. The title reflects a closeness to a motherland I think I have a memory of, but then realise I don’t. A place that is mine, but isn’t. Ten songs tracing the lives and emotional inheritance passed down by friends and family willing to share their stories so I could connect to Iran, and the experiences of those who have left their homeland. Weaving in live recorded Iranian instruments, I’ve attempted to integrate Persian sounds into Western music – not perfectly, but exactly as I am, navigating this in-between space.”
“What started as something deeply personal became something I needed to share, particularly with second-generation people navigating displacement or anyone searching for meaning in their ancestry. This album is my gift to anyone on a journey through heritage, holding the question: how do we remember what we’ve never known? I hope that in my discovery, people find something that connects them to their own.”
Out in March, the record is trailed by the sweeping atmospherics of ‘River (گلریز)’ – an enchant piece of dream pop with a heady, ethereal tone, you can check it out below.
Photo Credit: Liv Latricia Habel
