Latest news with #KhilnayKo
Forbes
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Six Years In The Making – Meesha Shafi Launches Her Debut Album
Meesha Shafi in a still from her song, Sar-e-Aam. Unveiling her debut album last week at a cinema in Lahore, Pakistan, well-known artiste, Meesha Shafi, reveals that she wrote the songs in a bid to 'survive' a very dark and traumatic period in her life. Always one to challenge the status quo in Pakistani music, Shafi's album, Khilnay Ko, is an intense deep dive within. While the songs are laid-bare and vulnerable, they carry an emotional depth which embodies both the light and the dark, tenderness and quiet strength. Khilnay Ko, Meesha Shafi's debut album, released last week, after almost six years in production. '[My] album is purely in Urdu and the poetry expresses grief, isolation, loss of identity, heartbreak albeit socio-political, and a heavy emptiness too. I've used traditional couplets a lot as refrains in the lyrics, both defining traits of a ghazal. Some of the tracks, like Khilnay Ko, which the album is named after, are deeply philosophical, others speak of bleak depression and being betrayed by friends,' Shafi shares candidly. 'Traditionally ghazals speak of romantic heartbreak or longing. Here, I was writing with a longing to return to my former self.' With skilled and sensitive producers such as boy wonder musician, Abdullah Siddiqui, Rohail Hyatt, Mahmood Rahman and Shafi herself, the album blends future sound with an eastern classical base. Featuring 11 tracks, Khilnay Ko takes the listener on a dreamscape journey of Shafi's psyche which is all parts haunting, wistful, edgy and melancholic. 'At a time when I was feeling like my creative identity was under threat of being consumed by toxic noise, I started writing these songs as a reminder to self of who I am. To cling to my light. To clear my head. And also, to keep remembering to exhale. I would routinely wake up to a lot of ugliness in the news about myself. I'd go offline to hide but I started asking myself, if I hide, that's the death of what I was born to do - music. Eventually, it stopped mattering what would become of the work. I kept writing regardless. And it has been immensely healing. It was the only way I could continue being honest and not get punished for it. This album saved me from fading away. Every song is me crawling out of a hole.' "I started writing these songs as a reminder to self of who I am." - Meesha Shafi Described as 'nouveau ghazal,' a term the artiste coined during the production of the album, Khilnay Ko stands as a tool for healing – for not just Shafi herself, but for those navigating their own dark night of the soul. In an album that is both unconventional and authentic – almost six years in the making – the artiste leans into soul self-examination with her friend and co-producer, Abdullah Siddiqui. The artiste at her debut album's launch last week in Lahore, Pakistan. Left to Right: Sarmad Khoosat, Meesha Shafi, Awais Gohar and Abdullah Siddiqui. 'Every windchime, bell and note is intentional,' she states. 'We would dissect the feeling space in the songs as well as the headspace and the mood. How to make someone understand how I feel. A lot of nuances were explored in the process of its creation with patience and restraint. We made this record very slowly, very meticulously and with an unreasonable amount of quality control. I'm extremely blessed to have made this with [Siddiqui]. This [album] couldn't have been understood without very high emotional intelligence, empathy and the skill needed for world-building through music.'
Express Tribune
12-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Meesha Shafi drops cover art for her debut album
Meesha Shafi has revamped her Instagram account to gear up for the release of her debut album, Khilnay Ko. She announced this step in her musical journey on Instagram on Thursday with the album's cover art and a statement. "Khilnay Ko is a deeply introspective and therapeutic journey through the shadowed corridors of the human psyche," Meesha wrote. "This album is an exploration of isolation, otherism, mental health, abandonment, and the relentless tension between contrasting forces that shape our existence. Each track is a reflection of the internal battles that so many face along their healing journey but rarely speak of - feelings of displacement, loneliness, and the overwhelming weight of being." The album art features Meesha towards the edge of the frame, dressed in a black-and-white flared top, which is webbed with abstract print. The lower half of the top contains drops down her thighs, containing sketches of eyes and lips. The singer rocks the ensemble with a bob haircut, her facial features partially obscured by hard shadows. At large, the portrait is reminiscent of Baroque art, playing with varying levels of depth through chiaroscuro lighting. The building's margin almost slices the photo in two, separating Meesha and the rocky props she stands on from the structure's multiple archways. The narrowing frames of the archways elevate the sense of depth that the portrait eagerly asserts. Khilnay Ko arrives on streaming platforms on Friday, though fans can hardly wait. "Every bone in my body is aching to experience this!" gushed a user. "Finally! I've waited so long for this moment. Thank you so much for this gift," wrote another. The anticipation is well-placed as Meesha has been crooning her way through her musical journey. Previously, she sang for the OST of drama serial Jaisay Aapki Marzi. Before that, in 2022, she collaborated with brother Faris Shafi on the Coke Studio Season 14 track Muaziz Saarif. Written by Meesha and Faris, Muaziz Sarif was composed by the siblings alongside Xulfi, while Action Zain and Abdullah Siddiqui arranged the track and co-produced it with the Hum Zalmi hitmaker. Xulfi's idea of pairing the two was to create an "unusual track," as per the song's press release. Taking to his Instagram, Abdullah penned an appreciation post for the song. "This was a difficult song to make - here we have two explosive, wildly original artists at the top of their game, who sonically have absolutely nothing in common," he said. "And yet, [the song] is so cohesive in its own unique way. That's how we found our sonic common ground."
