Melike Şahin: “Surviving as a musician in Turkey is hard both in economic and political terms”

“I’m not into explaining my work in terms of genres,” says Turkish pop auteur Melike Şahin, “I like to combine eras instead.” This speaks volumes on her latest record, AKKOR, which has cemented Melike’s place as one of Turkey’s biggest current artists. Describing her on-stage persona as ‘Diva Bebe’ (Diva Baby), Melike and her group have crafted a retro-futuristic record that has seen international dates now selling out for her in the way her Turkish shows have done since her solo career began.

Melike began her songwriting journey in university. “Let’s say I didn’t enjoy what I first created,” she says, “But I was dedicated and worked hard until I found an authentic way to express myself – it happened almost ten years ago.” Melike first sang with BaBa ZuLa, a legendary Anatolian psych band. Over several years on the road and in studios with the group, she perfected her skills as a vocalist and performer. She credits foundational female songwriters like Selda Bagçan for helping her find her emotionally nostalgic voice. Her first taste of success was the 2018 single ‘Tutuşmuş Beraber’, a simply recorded love song with Melike singing over Can Kandaz’s oud. Her debut album, Merhen, was released in 2021. Recorded during the pandemic across several home studios, it was an instant success, introducing audiences to her signature blend of indie-pop and Turkish balladry. Following its release she played over 100 shows in Turkey, and scored another hit with ‘Diva Yorgun’, its video depicting an LGBTQ+ romance at a casino – in 2023 a Melike concert in Bursa was cancelled after Melike offered her support for LGBTQ+ rights at an awards ceremony. Further collaborative singles followed before she returned to the studio last year for a more grandiose, live-recorded project: AKKOR.

She believes the new record is more emotionally potent than anything she’s written before. “I found myself listening back to [AKKOR] after finishing it,” Melike says, “And I felt proud because I had opened myself up quite bravely.” AKKOR unfolds with a dramatic arc across its ten tracks that carries an emotional weight, even for listeners who don’t speak Turkish. “The album is about a phoenix – a phoenix who sometimes falls but then finds the strength to rise up again,” Melike explains. “It’s about embracing the whole; simultaneously welcoming the positive and negative feelings that burn in your heart.” When it comes to lyricism, Melike attributes her chief inspiration to literature. She thanks revolutionary female authors such as Annie Ernaux, Marguerite Duras, Füruzan and Deborah Levy for making her pick up a pen. “I love experiencing the authentic female voice when it comes to literature, music, films – across all art forms,” she says.

Melike performed in London for the first time in November 2024, selling out EartH in Hackney as part of EFG London Jazz Festival and performing to an audience who recited lyrics from AKKOR just two weeks after its release. Earlier that week, she performed a cover of Björk’s ‘Jóga’ on air for a BBC Maida Vale session – her first sung performance in English. She was busy recording the cover at London’s Escote Studios when we spoke a few days after her performance. It was in this same studio that she recorded AKKOR earlier in the year, with Martin Terefe on production duties and London-based musicians such as Sterling Campbell on drums and Dave Okumu on guitar, recruited as Melike couldn’t get visas for her usual Turkish musicians to join her. Recorded live, the album’s musicality evokes the sound of 70s Istanbul, yet with a modern punch in the mix and creative direction.

Following several European dates, Melike was to return to Turkey for a string of stadium performances nationwide. After dropping one of the country’s biggest records of 2024 and taking it on the road, Melike plans to sit with the material and give it new life – with acoustic and remix versions of AKKOR now en route.

“Surviving as a musician in Turkey is hard both in economic and political terms… but Turkey’s scene is vibrant and artists are doing their best to express themselves even in dark times like these,” she says, describing the country’s current climate for independent artists. She names Tuğçe Şenoğul, Seda Erciyes, Dilhan Şeşen and Nilipek as female artists currently working to keep Turkey’s scenes alive. Melike hopes that the success of AKKOR will help bring her work, and Turkish indie music in general, under the global spotlight. Through this work, Melike Şahin is currently shaping Turkey’s musical history, paving a new road to success for the country’s upcoming generation of independent artists. As AKKOR continues to resonate with listeners worldwide, it’s clear that Melike is not only pushing the boundaries of Turkish pop but also defining the future of global independent music. With her artistry continuing to evolve and inspire, she is proof that works of genuine innovation can still exist and prosper in today’s chaotic industry.

‘Akkor’ translates to ‘incandescent’ in English. “We translate it as something that is burning and burning, and towards the end you see the remaining light just before it turns to ash – that little period in which it still shines and it still gives heat to the outside world,” says Melike, explaining the title she gave to a record that continues to beam bright.