Mood Board is our column where artists share a few of the things that inspired their new record. This time, the Copenhagen-based Iranian singer, composer, and producer Melodi Ghazal tells us how Hafez, Madonna, spinning around, and carpets inspired her new record Idol Melodies — out now on Anyines.
— Annie Fell, Editor-in-chief, Talkhouse Music
1. Hafez (in translation)
The Persian poet and mystic Hafez, who lived and wrote in the 14th century, has been part of my upbringing, especially around the spring equinox, which we culturally celebrate as the New Year. It’s a tradition and a ritual to open one of his poems at random to receive guidance and insight. The language, however, is so old and different from spoken Persian that I can’t understand it without help from my parents. A few years ago, a small selection of his poems was translated into Danish, and that book has been my companion throughout this whole process. I’ve often opened it for guidance, to move outside of myself, or for lyrical input. His poetry has also directly and indirectly informed the lyrics on the album in several places.
2. Madonna’s spiritual awakening
One of the first Western, non-children’s songs I truly felt a connection to was Madonna’s “Frozen.” I have a clear memory of swinging on a swing in kindergarten with my best friend Rebecca. I was humming the chorus to myself. Rebecca said it was bad because it was a lot of “mmm” humming, and it created this big confusion between my inner and outer world. “Mmm” is something anyone can say, regardless of language. I’m still deeply attached to Madonna’s Ray of Light album as a whole, because, new age or not, it radiates her spiritual awakening, translated into heavenly, grand acoustic-electronic songs and productions with William Orbit. I can clearly feel the connection to that sound in my own productions on this record.
3. The movement of spinning around oneself
While working on this album, I’ve been going through a major personal transformation or transition that has challenged my connection to myself. Reading Hafez and Rumi has also made me fascinated by the whirling dervishes of Sufism, and the idea of spinning around oneself has been on my mind constantly, spinning until you’re dizzy and stop being conscious for a brief moment. At the same time, I can’t help but picture Britney Spears’s dance videos, my childhood idol, just spinning and spinning and spinning ‘til she goes mad. It feels like that movement has translated itself onto the album as spiraling, circles, and loops, and into songs about searching and longing.
4. Wall-to-wall carpets
One scene I’ve worked with on some of the songs is sitting on the wall-to-wall carpet in my childhood home, putting my first CDs on the stereo, closing the door, and disappearing into another world. I worked on part of the music for a few months in London with Villads Klint (Minais B), where we also had sessions with Coby Sey, who now features on the album. In London there are really a lot of wall-to-wall carpets, which I honestly hadn’t been exposed to for about 15 years or maybe 20. I think it’s wonderful to be able to lie down wherever you want in a room. I also discovered that I work and think best with bare feet on the floor.
