Sevdaliza - The Calling (2018)

Sevdaliza is the alias of Sevda Alizadeh, a singer and songwriter who makes artful left-field pop that seems to draw from Portishead, Björk, and Velvet Rope-era Janet Jackson while remaining as contemporary as FKA twigs and the downcast aspects of Little Dragon. Born in Tehran and raised in Rotterdam, Alizadeh played basketball for the Dutch national youth team and earned a master's degree in communication before she opted to explore her artistic impulses. She debuted in 2014 with "Backseat Love," a single that anchored The Suspended Kid, the first of two four-track EPs released in 2015. A handful of tracks scattered across 2016 and early 2017 led to the album Ison. Like the EPs that preceded it, the full-length was issued through Alizadeh's Twisted Elegance label. ~ Andy Kellman