Ali Sethi & Nicolas Jaar

When Ali Sethi first discovered the work of the Chilean American producer Nicolas Jaar, he heard potential. He used Jaar’s electronic storytelling as a basis to tell his own story, singing in his language, Urdu, above Jaar’s ambient soundscapes. The ghazal poetry was perfectly suited to the introspective atmosphere of the music. Sethi’s video recordings made found their way to Jaar, who insisted on meeting him. Mutual respect led to a ‘real’ collaboration record: Intiha. It earned its place in prestigious end-of-year charts in 2023. Sethi’s unfiltered singing muses through lustrous music in which old and modern intertwine. Experimental noise in Chiargh gives way to repetitive ambient in Dard and the contemporary rave Muddat.