Sevdaliza – Raving Dahlia

Dahlia flowers are said to represent ‘one who stands strong in their sacred values’. Raving Dahlia, then, is a fitting title for Sevdaliza’s latest offering, which sees the artist glide fluidly between meditative introspection and trance-like club beats. Following her 2020 album Shabrang, sonically this six-track EP is somewhat more accessible in comparison to previous works, while remaining true to the idiosyncratic experimentation and vision of her body of work.

On opening track System, she chants over a minimal drum beat: ‘And I'm too sensitive / To be your pedestal’. The simplicity of the repeated verse reveals a tenderness that belies firm resolution, and ultimately, acceptance. This quiet strength is one interwoven across Raving Dahlia, through which Sevdaliza aims to ‘put power in the hands of women’. Spanning from the micro to macro, vast ground is covered and often in tandem – from futuristic universes on more conceptual tracks such as The Great Hope Design, to existential ruminations of the self set to the backdrop of electronic melodies.

Healing and at times even hedonistic, on Raving Dahlia Sevdaliza offers something transcendent, but deeply, irrevocably felt.

Listen to: High Alone, Everything is Everything