Artist Spotlight: Sheherazaad writes Urdu folk-noir for the South Asian diaspora, and her debut album lands 20 November

Sheherazaad is a composer and theatre artist who splits her time between India and Brooklyn, raised in California in a second-generation immigrant home. She sings in Hindi and Urdu, writes for Off-Broadway stages, and calls her sound dystopic folk-noir with South Asian roots. Her first full-length album, Khudgarzi, arrives on 20 November 2026 on the London label Erased Tapes.

The title translates to "selfishness". It has ten tracks, over thirty musicians, and a recording trail that runs through Brooklyn, London and the San Francisco Bay Area, with fragments captured in Istanbul, Islamabad and Trivandrum, according to the label.

Why she is for you

If Prateek Kuhad's Hindi songwriting taught you that an indie record does not have to be in English, Sheherazaad takes that idea into theatre, folk and pop at once, with a darker palette. She is not the obvious "fans also like" name for him or for anyone on your playlist, which is the point.

Start here

"Mashoor" (2023). Her first single for Erased Tapes, produced by Arooj Aftab. The video was shot around New York in extreme temperatures, and the song is about the pull and the discomfort of being famous.

"Dhund Lo Mujhe" (2024). From the Qasr mini-album, which Aftab also produced and which was announced on 29 January 2024. A good way into her earlier, sparser side.

"Gulukara" (30 October 2025). A two-voice song with Irfana, a rapper raised in Kodaikanal and a childhood friend of hers, about the historical link between sex work and women's artistry.

"Registaan". Made with Daatri Dadhich, who is credited as a co-narrator on the album.

"Andhera". The lead single from Khudgarzi, announced on 1 September 2026, and the cleanest preview of the new record.

Why now

Khudgarzi names its players on the label page: Ria Modak, the London drummer-composer Sarathy Korwar, the Pakistani-American composer Qasim Naqvi, Jay Chakravorty and Shunya are among them. The track list is built around Urdu and Hindi titles for roles and states: "Qatil" (murderess), "Mard" (man), "Pakeezah" (pure one), "Zeher" (poison), "Kohinoor" (diamond). Read in order, it looks like a cast list, which fits a writer who works in theatre.

She is also touring it. The label lists Wonderfruit in Pattaya, Thailand on 6 December 2026, four nights at HERE Arts Center in New York from 14 to 17 January 2027, and a UK and European run from 20 January to 13 February 2027 that includes Cafe OTO in London and Paradiso in Amsterdam. No India dates are announced yet.

Her whole catalogue so far sits on her Spotify page and on Erased Tapes.

If you like her, try

• Arooj Aftab, the Pakistani-American composer who produced Sheherazaad's first releases and whose own records are the clearest reference point.
• Sarathy Korwar, the London drummer-composer who plays on Khudgarzi and builds his own records from Indian and jazz traditions.
• Raveena, if you want the diaspora story in a softer, R&B-leaning register.
• Prateek Kuhad, for the other end: plainer, warmer, and still Hindi first.