Simin Tander: The Wind

A journey of progression and discovery might best describe singer Simin Tander's musical evolution. From the outset, with her debut album Wagma (Neuklang Records, 2011), the German-Afghan singer was already stretching the boundaries of jazz, displaying a deeply personal approach to vocal improvisation and forging a sound that remains elusive. With Where Water Travels Home (Jazzhaus Records, 2014), Tander began to explore her Afghan roots, singing Afghan poems in her father's native Pashto—an exploration she continued on Unfading (Jazzhaus Records, 2020) with her interpretations of Afghan poetesses. But Tander has always cast her net widely, searching for poetry, songs of devotion, and expressions of love united by a spiritual yearning. The Wind continues this quest.

Alongside Tander's original compositions are three Pashto-sung arrangements of Afghan love poetry, written between the 17th and 20th centuries, as well as an Italian love song from 1900, performed in the original Neapolitan with sparse violin accompaniment, a 16th-century Spanish love song, and a traditional Norwegian folk hymn. "It's about looking for similarities—not just looking for them, but celebrating the similarities in culture, in music, in languages, and not the differences," Tander told AAJ in a 2016 interview. Her keen sense of the emotional depth conveys, regardless of their origins and combined with her ethereal delivery, any notion of separation. Like the wind, Tander's art knows no boundaries.

The outlier—at least in terms of its stormy energy—is Tander's vivid reimagining of English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley's "The Cloud on Nursling of the Sky." Her spoken-word delivery casts a wicked Gothic spell over urgent rhythms.

As on Unfading, electric bassist Björn Meyer and drummer Samuel Rohrer provide supple rhythmic foundations, with Rohrer's sparing use of electronic textures creating pockets of otherworldly ambiance. Another point of continuity is Tander's renewed engagement with stringed instruments. Whereas Unfading featured violist Jasser Haj Youssef, here Oslo-based Indian violinist Harpreet Bansal dovetails sympathetically with Tander—countering, shadowing, and interweaving to lyrical effect.

There is a timeless quality to Tander's singing, akin to great folk singers across cultures. Yet, the contemporary edge woven into these songs—indie-pop detours (see YouTube video below), electronic rustlings, and post-production nuances—imbues the album with a progressive character. Like shifting winds, Tander's music oscillates between caressing balm, sudden gusts of guttural release, and enveloping intensity. The Wind stands as another haunting work of dark lyricism and sweet melancholy from an exceptional artist.