London-born musician BODUR releases her new single ‘TAPESTRY [HIJAZ]’ via PACE. BODUR enters a new chapter with ‘TAPESTRY [HIJAZ]’ influenced by Maqam, a traditional Arabic system of microtonal music, something that she began exploring after learning to play the Oud, a fretless, Middle Eastern string instrument. Flitting between BODUR’s rich and distorted vocals, tension builds within the Gabriel Gifford (Harvey Causon, Lucy Lu) production as she tackles “generational trauma and the impact that has on our family that we love ‘.
Inspired by Hijaz – a Maqam mood that gives feelings of solitude, enchantment, mysticism and distant desert – BODUR captures the essence of a desert transitioning from sunset to midnight. BODUR who wrote and executive produced the track formed a creative relationship with director partnership Furmaan Ahmed (SOPHIE, Shygirl, Eartheater, Celeste) and creative director Rukaiyah Qazi for the accompanying visualizer capturing the core themes within the music.
The North West London native harnesses a pioneering sound that embraces her dual Middle Eastern and South Asian heritage and layered identities. BODUR’s creative process has shaped her as an artist, inspiring a generation of South Asian and Middle Eastern women across the UK through her authentic sonic and visual aesthetic. Having launched in April 2023, BODUR took listeners into her evolving sonic world with her debut three-track EP, ÖZ. The project earned support from CRACK, Jyoty, Jamz Supernova, Rinse FM, Radio 6, COLORS, Notion, The Line of Best Fit and Wonderland citing it as an “unparalleled aesthetic“. You can hear early elements of a wider project to come in ÖZ, reaching most, if not all corners of the world with performances in the US, ESNS Festival, and London’s Roundhouse for a homecoming headline. It’s easy to enter BODUR’s world if you witness a live show combining powerful choreography, styling, a backdrop of archived visuals taken from Middle Eastern films symbolizing the messages within the music, and her band of contributors she’s closely collaborated with since forming at university.
Keep an eye out for more music from BODUR in the near future following on from her debut EP ‘OZ’ which dropped last year.