Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily have announced a collaborative album, Love In Exile, out March 24th on Verve Records. To herald the announcement, the trio have shared the lead single “To Remain/ To Return.”

Backstage after their 2018 debut show in their adopted hometown of New York City, Shahzad Ismaily asked Arooj Aftab and Vijay Iyer to huddle together and reflect on what had just occurred. “We felt it from the first moment,” remembers Iyer. “We were mystified and almost silent and said: I don’t know what just happened. But we should do that again.” They hadn’t prepared material in advance; the potent chemistry surprised even these seasoned collaborators. A shared focus on collective real-time creation allowed them to weave the bass, piano, and vocals into a breathtakingly unified sound. This was music in the moment. Words couldn’t define it, but the audience felt it, and joined the emotional journey. Staying open to spontaneous co-creation became the band’s defining approach in the half dozen shows they played before recording their debut album.

Love In Exile asks you to step inside its sense of time, to stretch out alongside these delightful and unhurriedly unfolding songs. Profound impact is achieved with minimal instrumentation: Vijay Iyer on pianos and electronics, Shahzad Ismaily on bass and Moog synth, and Arooj Aftab’s exquisite Urdu vocals. Subtle musical interrelationships build into moments of deeply felt drama. Shimmering keyboard melodies and stirring vocals, earthy basslines, and hypnotic drones: together they create an album of stunning gravitas and beauty. Love In Exile was recorded live in a New York City studio with minimal editing, and each listen reveals distinct aspects of this soundworld, sure as it will activate new feelings inside you.

“This project is so dear to me,” says Iyer. “Making music with Arooj and Shahzad is nothing less than an out-of-body experience. Even though I’m right there in it, I find myself witnessing the music as if from above. I’m weirdly in awe of our unhurried, mysterious creations; they seem to arrive fully formed from somewhere else. I can’t wait for everyone to hear, feel, and live with this record. “

By creating in real time, without any prior preparations, the three musicians make a collective moment for both themselves and the audience. Remembering their first show, Aftab says, “Vijay and Shahzad were so locked into each other, and it was unclear whether they were doing what I was doing or I was doing what they were doing. We were like a school of fish.” Sunlight dappled through deep water, fluid motions that dissolve individual boundaries and amplify communal energy. Ismaily calls it “a relaxing toward what is.” Love In Exile is the power of music, how it moves us and invites us to love.

Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily
Love in Exile
Verve
Tracklist

CD Tracklist

1. To Remain/To Return (9:19)
2. Haseen Thi (12:09)
3. Shadow Forces (14:11)
4. Sajni (8:15)
5. Eyes of the Endless (14:50)
6. Sharabi (13:42)

Vinyl tracklist:

Disc 1, Side A

1. To Remain/To Return (9:19)
2. Haseen Thi (12:09)

Disc 1, Side B

1. Shadow Forces (14:11)
2. Sajni (8:15)

Disc 2, Side A

1. Eyes of the Endless (14:50)

Disc 2, Side B

1. Sharabi (13:42)

Digital tracklist:

1. To Remain/To Return (9:19)
2. Haseen Thi (12:09)
3. Shadow Forces (14:11)
4. Sajni (8:15)
5. Eyes of the Endless (14:50)
6. Sharabi (13:42)
7. To Remain/To Return (Excerpt) (3:19)

Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily 2023 Tour Dates

Mar 31 — Knoxville, TN — Big Ears Music Festival
Apr 14 — North Bethesda, MD — Strathmore — The Music Center
Apr 28 — Burlington, VT — UVM Recital Hall
May 7 — Krems an der Donau, AT — Donau Festival, Minoritenkirche
May 9 — Brussels, BE — Les Nuits Botanique Festival, Notre Dame Church
May 11 — Luxembourg, LU — Neimënster
May 13 — Berlin, DE — XJAZZ! Festival, Emmauskirche
May 25 — Hamburg, DE — Elbphilharmonie
May 29 — Zurich, CH — Moods
May 30 — Utrecht, NL — Tivoli Vredenburg
June 2 — London, UK — Barbican Centre
Jun 26 — Vancouver, BC — Vancouver Jazz Festival
Jun 28 — Ottawa, ON — Ottawa Jazz Festival
Jun 29 — Montreal, PQ — Montreal Jazz Festival
July 27 — North Adams, MA — Bang on a Can’s: LOUD WEEKEND 2023 at Mass MoCA
Jul 29 — Katonah, NY — Caramoor Center for the Arts
Sep 14 — New York, NY — Venue TBA
Sep 19 — San Diego, CA — Epstein Family Amphitheatre
Sep 20 — Los Angeles, CA — Venue TBA
Sep 21 — San Francisco, CA — Great American Music Hall
Sep 28 — Tempe, AZ — Tempe Center for the Arts
Sept 29 — Austin, TX — Venue TBA
Sept 30 — Denver, CO — Venue TBA
Oct 4 — Gartner Auditorium at the Cleveland Museum of Art
Oct 5 — Princeton, NJ – Venue TBA
Oct 7 — Blacksburg, VA — Venue TBA
Oct 8 — Boston, MA — Institute of Contemporary Art
Oct 10 — Minneapolis, MN — The Cedar
Oct 11 — Chicago, IL — Venue TBA
Oct 12 — Iowa City, IA — Infinite Dream Festival

purchase Tickets for Love In Exile HERE