Azar Swan is the musical project of singer-songwriter and musician Zohra Atash, co-produced by Atash and

Joshua Strachan Joshua Strawn (born 1976), known professionally as Joshua Strachan, is a songwriter, record producer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. Biography Joshua Strachan was born in a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa, grew up and currently resides in Roan ...

. After dissolving their previous band, Religious to Damn, Atash and Strachan chose to begin experimenting with electronic instrumentation.

History

Azar Swan played their first show on November 10, 2012, followed by notable direct support slots with

Prurient Ian Dominick Fernow is an American experimental musician, poet and multimedia artist. He is best known for extreme music released under the stage name Prurient, as well as numerous other aliases including Vatican Shadow and Rainforest Spiritual ...

White Lung White Lung were a Canadian punk rock band. The band consisted of Mish Barber-Way (vocals), Kenneth William (guitars) and Anne-Marie Vassiliou (drums). They have released two albums on Deranged Records and their latest two on Domino Recording C ...

, Cut Hands, King Dude, Tamaryn and

David J David John Haskins (born 24 April 1957, Northampton, Northamptonshire, England), better known as David J, is a British alternative rock musician, producer, and writer. He is the bassist for the gothic rock band Bauhaus and for Love and Rock ...

, and a '' BUST Magazine'' showcase with

JD Samson JD Samson (born August 4, 1978), stage name of Jocelyn Samson is an American musician, producer, songwriter and DJ best known as a member of the bands Le Tigre and MEN. Background Samson grew up in Pepper Pike, Ohio, and attended Orange High ...

and MEN. The band premiered their debut single, "Amrika", on ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' on October 24, 2012. They subsequently released several digital singles including "In My Mouth", which was one of the final releases from

Pendu Sound Recordings Pendu Sound Recordings was an independent record label used by aTelecine, Chelsea Wolfe, Azar Swan, Mater Suspiria Vision, White Ring, Talibam!, Von Haze, and others. The label, also known as Pendu Sound, was started by Todd Brooks in 2005 ...

and was remixed by

Drew McDowall Drew McDowall (born 28 January 1961) is a Scottish musician who has been a member, collaborator, and remixer for various influential music groups. McDowall was formerly a full-time member of Coil. History McDowall formed art-punk trio Poems in ...

of Coil. In November 2013, Azar Swan released their debut LP, ''Dance Before the War'', on the independent label Handmade Birds. ''

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'' called the band's sound "prime industrial pop" and said that the album's title track was aggressive and accessible with a "bent for experimentation." The band's second album, ''And Blow Us a Kiss'', was released in October 2014 by Zoo Music, the record label owned and operated by Dee Dee Penny of

Dum Dum Girls Dum Dum Girls was an American rock band, formed in 2008. It began as the bedroom recording project of singer and songwriter Dee Dee (née Kristin Gundred). She is currently based in Los Angeles. The name is a double homage to the Vaselines' albu ...

and Brandon Welchez of Crocodiles. They followed the album up with a double-

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

remix 12" called ''Variations'' on Handmade Birds, which featured mixes by Vatican Shadow and Cut Hands. ''Variations'' was notable for being the first time that both William Bennett (of

Whitehouse Whitehouse may refer to: People * Charles S. Whitehouse (1921-2001), American diplomat * Cornelius Whitehouse (1796–1883), English engineer and inventor * E. Sheldon Whitehouse (1883-1965), American diplomat * Elliott Whitehouse (born 1993), ...

) and Dominick Fernow (of Prurient), both widely recognized as two of the most significant pioneering figures in

power electronics Power electronics is the application of electronics to the control and conversion of electric power. The first high-power electronic devices were made using mercury-arc valves. In modern systems, the conversion is performed with semiconducto ...

and

noise music Noise music is a genre of music that is characterised by the expressive use of noise within a musical context. This type of music tends to challenge the distinction that is made in conventional musical practices between musical and non-musical ...

, had been featured on the same release. Strachan and Atash would go on to collaborate with longtime Hospital Productions audio engineer and mixer Kris Lapke for their subsequent work, with ''Savage Exile'' in 2017 and ''The Hissing of a Paper Crane'' as well as on a single for the

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

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and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...

Singles Series called ''Empire Grave'', both in 2019. Both albums were reviewed favorably by

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while

Revolver Magazine ''Revolver'' is a heavy metal music and hard rock magazine, published in North America. It has been in print since 2000, and is about both established acts and up-and-comers in heavy music. In the fall of 2017, ''Revolver'' underwent a brand re ...

said that Empire Grave showed an "unmatched capability to create unsettlingly gorgeous dance-floor bangers that are highly listenable yet tremendously unique among their contemporaries." Azar Swan has released a number of covers including interpretations of songs by

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

, and

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. In 2018, they digitally released a compilation of unreleased songs from the ''Dance Before The War'' period called "Sun Meets the Sea." Atash's sleep disorder, childhood hallucinations, and synesthesia are the impetus for much of Azar Swan's lyrical imagery, which she has described as "living in the space between dreams and reality" and "hallucinogenic realism". Subject matter ranges from anxiety, language, war, bestial hunger and weather, with lyrics mainly written while in a hypnagogic state. Atash has been vocal about her experience as the child of

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

refugees, as well as her experience as a woman navigating complex cultural experiences and identities.Atash, Zohra
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Slutist

Discography

Studio albums

*''Dance Before the War'' (2013, Handmade Birds) *''And Blow Us a Kiss'' (2014, Zoo Music) *''Savage Exile'' (2017, aufnahme + wiedergabe) *''The Hissing of a Paper Crane'' (2019, Primal Architecture Records)

Singles

*''Amrika'' (2012, self-released) *''Lusty'' (2013, self-released) *''In My Mouth'' (2013, Pendu Sound Recordings) *''Cruel Summer'' (2013, Pendu Sound Recordings) *''Broken English'' (2014, self-released) *''Variations'' (2015, Handmade Birds) *''This is Not America/The Future'' (2017, Primal Architecture Records) *''The Golden Age of Hate'' (2017, Primal Architecture Records)

Compilations

*''Sun Meets the Sea'' (2018, Primal Architecture Records)

References

{{Authority control American electronic music groups American pop music groups