Tauranga-based artivist, YASAMIN, unveils her 10-track full album, Songs Over Baghdad, a beautifully and delicately-crafted body of work that delves into her personal sense of belonging, and the events that have unfolded in both her home country, Iraq, and her adopted country, Aotearoa.
At the end of 2019, inspired by a rise of peaceful revolution in her birth city of Baghdad, YASAMIN quietly wrote and recorded her sophomore album, Songs Over Baghdad, to explore the question of belonging and identity, and to raise awareness of the peaceful protests in Iraq through her chosen medium, music. The album itself is political pop in its purest form, a true testament to YASAMIN as both and artist and a person.
“ Yasamin realizes her new songs complicate the overly simplistic Hollywood depictions of international conflict” - OKayPlayer, Christina Lee
Fresh off a support slot for Bic Runga, Yasamin explains the concept of the new album:
“In October, 2019 there was peaceful uprising in a country that had never seen peace.
That country is Iraq, my birth country.
In March, 2019 there was a violent massacre in a country that had always seen peace. That country is New Zealand. My adopted country.
This album is about both these events. And what it is like to be from both countries and not fully belong to either.”
Born to Iraqi immigrants, singer-songwriter Yasamin was raised in Auckland, New Zealand. After leaving her career as a scientist to pursue music in 2017, she released her first album, L.O.N.D.O.N.
“Official government figures stated that 149 civilians died during the first wave of protests, mostly as a result of bullet wounds to the head. To date, around 550 people have been killed in the violence with 300,000 thought to be wounded.
“At the time, Yasamin, also a part-time scientist, was working on her second album, which centred on themes of her identity as a New Zealander; Iraqi politics was never part of the plan. But she couldn’t let go of what she had seen and the impact it had led her to start writing songs of protest.
“Her melancholic vocals on her first song from the album, a haunting ballad called October, is dedicated to all the Iraqis who died during the first month of protests. She titled her most recent album Songs Over Baghdad (a play on hip-hop duo Outkast’s Bombs Over Baghdad), because she wanted “Iraqis to tell Iraq’s story” and “wipe away that violent image of bombs over Baghdad’” -Middle Ease Eye Interview.
"I love this artivist, Yasamin. She’s brave, bold and feisty. She is not afraid to question and challenge and to own her birth country’s problems as much as embrace the problems of ours, too. But more than that she’s honest and a damn fine song writer. This album opened my eyes and ears and will open yours too. And if we want to have a truly diverse and accepting culture, then this is a welcome addition to that journey’s soundtrack” - Tim Gruar - Ambient Light Blog.