Culture
03 Nov 21

Track of the Day: Shaefri - 'Joanne'

Shaefri's new track 'Joanne' was produced by Craigie Dodds (Amy Winehouse, Gorillaz and Leona Lewis).

Rising Irish-Egyptian artist, musician and songwriter Shaefri has shared her brand new single 'Joanne'.

Raised between London and Co. Mayo, Shaefri utilises storytelling facets she acquired from the trad genre growing up. Arabic beats meet harmonies that hark back to summers spent in the West of Ireland and family sing-alongs.

New track 'Joanne' is an ode to women maligned by society, featuring Shaefri's soft, lilting vocal talent.

"I was inspired to write Joanne after seeing Leonard Cohen live - the way he portrays Suzanne as a torturous siren inspired me to want to almost write a "little sister" for her, ‘Joanne’, and take the character further, displaying her as a gritty, tough woman in unimaginable circumstances, and explore how she has to walk a line between siren and self-preservation," Shaefri says of the song's origins.

"I wanted to paint a more realistic picture of how certain actions and consent can be misinterpreted or ignored and how abuse can so easily take place, especially in sex work."

Shaefri has previously explored issues surrounding women in her music, most recently on her spectacular second EP Girl - which was met with critical acclaim. The EP had support from national and international radio, alongside Spotify and BBC Introducing.

Recorded between London, Paris and Montreal with the Canadian/Caribbean producer Traxx, and following a recent signing to Warners' 'W Songs', Shaefris' Girl EP marked her move in to the mainstream after her acclaimed debut EP, 2017’s tracks.

Where 'Girl' was brightly-textured and addictively melodic; the hypnotic 'Joanne' delves into Shaefri's roots in dark, atmospheric pop. The storytelling leads the raw, haunting production.

Comfortable in her writing following the success of her previous two EPs, 'Joanne' is the first in a series of new singles in which Shaefri experiments with different sub-genres of pop. In short, she's not afraid to take risks and is armed with a fresh new sound and vision for 2022.

Listen to the empathetic 'Joanne' below: