Tu Gulî

Olcay Bayir is a British/Kurdish-Alevi singer-songwriter who sings in Kurdish, Turkish and Armenian, and Tu Gulî is her third album, within which she reflects on her multicultural and multilingual upbringing, gives voice to the myriad peoples of Anatolia and their struggles, and pays respect to the women of her homeland.

The line-up is a mix of traditional Anatolian instruments with guitar, double bass and bass guitar; and the combination creates a worldly sound but is perhaps more Eastern in timbre than her previous album. The inter-tonal qualities of saz (Turkish lute) blend seamlessly with Bayir’s mellifluous vocals. Her vocals are supported by duduk (double-reed wind instrument) on ‘Adana’ and oud (Turkish/Arabic fretless lute) on ‘Tal Tala’ and ‘Nare Nare’. The fact that only the vocals were recorded in London, while the other parts were laid down in Athens, Istanbul and Yerevan marks this out as a truly international collaboration.

Thematically, there are two songs dealing with forced marriage and others expressing unrequited love; replete with classic imagery of roses, nightingales and gardens at night. Tu Gulî is Kurdish for ‘You are a Rose’ and it is this sentiment that is perhaps extended to all the people of Anatolia or, even the whole region itself.