میرا دوست پریشان ہے

A Mehdi Maloof Eid present.¹

Perhaps as a result of how I first heard Mehdi – just him and a single acoustic instrument – I think of that arrangement as the canonical Mehdi Maloof presentation. While Mehdi performs extensively with that setup, his recordings are wonderfully diverse. He works with many producers, all of whom add different color behind Mehdi’s syncopated rhythm, weird guitar hooks, beautifully plain vocal tone, and circular poetry.

Mehdi’s style warrants drawing a parallel with Bob Dylan. While Mehdi his still early in his career, and such a comparison is therefore premature, he shares a few core characteristics. The emphasis on the unconventional words, a vocal style that does not fit in with prevailing aesthetic standards, and strength of songwriting that it allows many musical textures to thrive under it. Given these characteristics, I applaud Mehdi’s desire to explore the range of genres in his recorded work.

It is on this recording that I felt the combination really worked. In previous recordings, the production attempted to make Mehdi sound big with bass. Instead of decorating the words and voice, the music emphasized other things. Here, the subtlety of Ali Hamdani, Shamsher Rana, and Varqa Faraid fits in really well with Mehdi’s voice. The arrangement – like the song – is weird. And Mehdi emphasizes a particularly circular refrain to repeat over the instrumental hook.

1. It has been pointed out that I have sent too many sad and angsty songs in a row, so I’m going to try to change tone a bit. That would require that I not go on unannounced hiatus, but life shows up sometimes. Excuse the absence for a few days, and I hope the next few songs lift your spirits.