Apranik Records has newly released a 12-track female electronic compilation featuring original music by Iranian artists.
Borne with the intent of amplifying the best of Iran’s female electronic artists, in support of the country’s women’s rights movement, AIDA and Nesa Azadikhah have released ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’, translated ‘Zan, Zendegi, Azadi’.
The 12-track ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’, released on the 20th of January, features all original tracks spanning techno, ambient, electro, breaks and experimental genres. The 12 contributing artists are all Iranian women, including SarrSew, Sharona Lico, XEEN, Kimia Koochakzadeh-Yazdi and ROW92, as well as label heads Nesa Azadikhah, who founded Deep House Tehran, and AIDA.
‘Zan, Zendegi, Azadi’, is a charity release with all proceeds going toward organisations that help women and children recovering from domestic violence, addiction, homelessness, and societal distress in Iran.
Amidst ongoing protests for freedom against the Iranian regime, the all female electronic compilation will also be released in tribute to Mahsa Amini, an Iranian woman who recently died under suspicious circumstances while detained by police.
Listen to MENTRIX’s lead track ‘Be Mahsa Be Nika’ below.
Apranik Records shared a statement which you can read in full below.
‘This collection, consisting of original music by all Iranian women artists, is dedicated to the recent uprising of people, especially the women in Iran who have endured silencing, censorship, and forced control over the past four decades. Throughout Iranian history, women have been at the forefront of music and performing arts. However, in the past 44 years under the Islamic regime, women in Iran have been banned from singing, dancing, and performing. Facing threats to the safety of themselves and their families, to their career and reputation, female artists are forced to quit, leave Iran, or go underground facing grave risks. Despite this, Iranian women have remained active and at the forefront of their art, pushing boundaries from Iran and different corners of the world.
Iran has risen up to a revolution. On September 16, 2022, A young girl named Mahsa Jina Amini was killed at the hands of Iran’s morality police, a police force assigned to enforce Islamic dress codes on women through harassment methods. Since then, major protests have broken out across the country and throughout the world. What started as a spark in protesting justice for Mahsa Amini has since turned into a revolution with people fearlessly protesting across the country. Government forces have brutally killed, arrested, and tortured many protestors including children and teenagers. Despite this, the protests are getting larger and larger and the fight for freedom from oppression for women and girls has become the greatest of its kind throughout history.
As a group of Iranian women, this fight is closest to our hearts. We release this collection in solidarity and towards a fight for a free Iran. We dream of a future where women and girls can openly and safely practice, grow, and shine within arts, especially electronic music. From us to you, the free and soon-to-be free world, and to a free Iran. Zan, Zendegi, Azadi [translates to: Woman, Life, Freedom].’
‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ is out now.
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