Mehdi Rajabian - Coup of Gods (2021)

Mehdi Rajabian spent months in solitary confinement for violating his country’s restrictions on art. But he says nothing will stop him from finishing his next album

Mehdi Rajabian once had his own recording studio in Sari, Iran, boasting moody overhead lighting and blond wood walls. Now, he spends most of his time in the dark basement of his home, crouching on a pile of rugs in front of a computer and a keyboard. Despite being functionally under house arrest since August 2020, Rajabian has been obsessively piecing together an album that’s become his singular dream — one that could also land him back in the most notorious prison in Iran.

Rajabian has been tangling with the Iranian government for eight years now, and as the release of his newest album, Coup of Gods, approaches, he risks ending up back in jail — all because he insists on using female voices and refuses to bend to Iran’s restrictive rules on who can make art and why. Mixing Eastern and Western sounds — classical strings, Middle Eastern instruments, and gorgeous vocalizations — Rajabian’s music doesn’t sound like an angry revolution, but it’s a rebellion all the same.



Tracklist:
1 01. Mehdi Rajabian - Whip On a Lifeless Body (09:07)
1 02. Mehdi Rajabian - Murmur of the Naked Nun (11:11)
1 03. Mehdi Rajabian - An Epitaph on the Tomb of Companions (10:03)
1 04. Mehdi Rajabian - Coup of Gods (04:01)