AKKOR

Best known as the lead singer of the Turkish retro psychedelic rockers BaBa ZuLa, Melike Şahin has now set out on a solo career, and this is her second studio album, following 2021’s debut, Merhem. It is a defiant and joyous declaration of survival and determination in a troubled world. While Şahin’s sound is rooted in Turkish folk music and the Middle Eastern melodic forms of the 70s and 80s, she also brings something very international to her sound. Recorded in London, AKKOR is as full of funk, disco and psychedelic reverb to counter an often melancholic strain that brings to mind a Turkish Mariza (the Portuguese fado star) and gained her the sobriquet ‘the queen of sadness’. The hints of wah-wah pedal, manic organ breaks and the soaring vocals make this quite a long way from ‘queen of sadness’-territory. It’s a fighter’s album, and the gutsy delivery and driving rhythms are a statement of intent.