Nadah El Shazly announces new album 'Laini Taini' - out 6 June via OLI

Nadah El Shazly, the Egyptian-born, Montreal-based producer, vocalist, composer, and actor, has announced her highly anticipated second album, ‘Laini Tani’, set for release on June 6th via her new label, One Little Independent Records as well as Backward Music in Canada. Renowned for her blending of experimental sounds with traditional Arabic influences and improvisational styles, she’s garnered international acclaim for her genre-defying artistry, mesmerising vocals, and avant-garde arrangements.

‘Laini Tani’ conveys a heady, exhilarating rush of excess, evoking a sultry haze of balmy nights that stretch effortlessly into dawn while clubs continue unphased. Each track serves as a vignette, capturing fleeting yet vivid moments of introspection, defiance, or unrestrained euphoria. Through intricate wordplay, layered metaphors, and personal symbols, El Shazly crafts an aural and lyrical tapestry vibrant with meaning, where every note and phrase hints at a more intimate narrative. The album is one of contrasts - between indulgence and contemplation, spontaneity and observation - inviting the listener to lose themselves in its enchanting rhythms while deciphering the deeper truths woven into its fabric.

The soundscape of the album is a rich balance that forges a dynamic interplay between classical Egyptian improvisation, voice manipulation and electronic beats. Nadah teams up with 3Phaz as co-producer, and her long-term collaborator, Sarah Pagé on harp and electronics. It captures not only the chaos and beauty of urban life but also the private battles and triumphs within it that define the human experience. Together, the tracks create a compelling portrait of an artist unafraid to embrace vulnerability and honour the power of music as a salve for the soul, as well as one immersed in a creative community that encourages this.

Born and raised in Cairo, El Shazly began her musical journey as a member of Sick Gdrch, a Misfits cover band, before venturing into electronic production and composition. Her debut album, 2017’s ‘Ahwar’, earned global praise for its merging of heritage and innovation, and established Nadah as a leading figure in the contemporary music landscape. She appeared on the cover of The Wire in 2018 in an issue announcing “Cairo’s New Wave.”

El Shazly's live performances are equally immersive, combining her enthralling voice with intricate sound manipulation and dynamic collaborations with other musicians. She has worked with a host of innovators including Sam Shalabi, Elvin Brandhi, Maurice Louca, and many more. She’s graced stages at prestigious venues and festivals worldwide, including Irtijal, Le Guess Who?, Rewire, Best Kept Secret, FIMAV, Roskilde, Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Nusasonic, and Marfa Myths. Beyond her solo work, Nadah is an active contributor to Cairo’s independent music scene, supporting emerging artists and engaging in cross-disciplinary projects.

Nadah is also known for her soundtrack work. In 2022 she scored the film Les Damnés ne pleurent pas (The Damned Don’t Cry), that follows Fatima-Zahra and her teenage son Selim who move from place to place, forever trying to outrun the latest scandal she's caught up in. El Shazly won the Best Original Music award at the Bordeaux International Independent Film Festival and at the Dublin International Film Festival. In the last year she’s also scored Last Party in R. Desert! by Mahmoud Sabbagh, and To a Land Unknown by Mahdi Fleifel.

In 2024, she released the experimental noise album ‘Pollution Opera' with Welsh producer Elvin Brandhi. Facing hell in full defiance, their nine-track album covers the spectrum of electroacoustic fragments and vocalization, suspended between the roar of engines, evocative intonations and guttural retching.

Watch the video for 'Ghorzetein' here

Within ‘Laini Tani’, El Shazly’s immense, captivating voice weaves through impeccably crafted synth-work and a propulsive rhythmic foundation co-produced with 3Phaz, with Patrick Graham’s rattling percussion alongside. Layers of kinetic bass and scorching electronics intertwine like the labyrinthine backstreets of a city. Sarah Pagé’s harp adds a textural, dreamlike quality to El Shazly’s deftly constructed arrangement, an edifice of bold and physical design that’s also surreal and otherworldly. A mosaic of unconventional instrumentation interacts throughout, with Nadah at its centre as the architect and cynosure. Her commanding performance and vocal stylings act as a guide through this intricate ecosystem.

The first single ‘Ghorzetein’ explores the double wound of a heart that has loved and been broken twice, reflected in its English title, “Two Stitches.” The track begins as a brooding, atmospheric piece with building intensity, featuring the raw percussion of a sonic CPR, reviving the heart from its emotional stupor. This progression captures the duality of despair and resilience, making it both an emotional journey and a visceral listening experience.

With ‘Laini Tani’, Nadah El Shazly invites listeners into a thoroughly realised, deeply personal environment that is as much a marker of her artistic evolution as it is a celebration of her hometown and human connection. The album’s seamless meshing of experimental daring and traditional depth offers a rare glimpse into a world where barriers dissolve. As she continues to push the boundaries of contemporary music, El Shazly affirms her role as a vital voice in the global musical conversation, cementing a legacy of fearless creativity and infinite sonic possibility.