New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Gifted composer Arooj Aftab's remarkable year of global recognition has culminated in two GRAMMY Award Nominations: Best Global
Music Performance and Best New Artist. After releasing her breakthrough album Vulture
Prince on New Amsterdam Records last April, Aftab now signs to the iconic
Verve Records for both the current album and future recordings. Alongside this news, the U.S.-based musician also shares her gorgeous NPR Tiny Desk Performance.
"It's been our distinct pleasure to have worked with Arooj on two records, culminating in this year's incredible success with Vulture Prince," says Judd Greenstein, Co-Artistic
Director at New Amsterdam Records. "Arooj is one of the most expansively creative artists working today, and we're excited to see how her trajectory develops under her new relationship with Verve, a label we've always deeply admired."
"We are so proud to welcome Arooj to the
Verve Records family," says Jamie Krents, Head of
Verve Records. "Arooj has made history with these nominations and we look forward to helping even more listeners discover the Vulture
Prince album and her future recordings."
Filmed in a Brooklyn townhouse by Capital K Pictures, Arooj's Tiny Desk performance captures her captivating, commanding voice at its finest - leading a group of equally talented musicians (Darian Donovan Thomas: violin, Shahzad Ismaily: bass and synth, Gyan Riley: guitar, Maeve Gilchrist: harp).
On Vulture Prince, the composer's remarkable voice, backed by a team of renowned musicians, transports listeners to worlds once known. Intimate piano and swelling orchestral strings unveil mystical passage into Aftab's emotionally gripping symphonic world - vast with colorful sounds and transcendent of genre. It landed on Best Of 2021 lists by Pitchfork, NPR, and Paste, as well as former President Barack Obama (Barack Obama's Summer 2021 Playlist).
Her nationwide tour included multiple festival appearances, headlining performances, and one show supporting Caroline Polachek. Following her North American stint, Aftab will undertake more dates in
Europe and festivals in 2022.
Arooj Aftab's work speaks for itself. The young Pakistani-American prodigy brings timelessness and an intrinsic wisdom laced into each project. Exceptional musicianship leaves listeners wanting more. There is no doubt that Aftab will continue making waves in the contemporary music scene for years to come.
A graduate of Berklee College of Music, Arooj Aftab channels artists from Terry Riley to Abida Parveen and has played venues from Lincoln Center to (Le) Poisson
Rouge to the Museum of
Modern Art. Championed early by NPR, who praised her composition "
Lullaby" as one of the "Greatest Songs By 21st Century Women," and the New York Times, who celebrated her work as one of the "Best Classical
Music Tracks of 2018," Aftab's liminal sound floats between classical minimalism and new age, Sufi devotional poetry and electronic trance, jazz structures and states of pure being. In 2020, Aftab composed music for the Academy Award-shortlisted film Bittu and sang on Residente's Latin GRAMMY® Award--winning single "Antes Que El Mundo Se Acabe." By 2021, she netted two GRAMMY® Award nominations of her own thanks to her breathtaking sophomore album, Vulture Prince, acclaimed by the New York Times, Pitchfork, and even former President Barack Obama.
