Bedouine Shares Unheard Songs From Deluxe Edition of Self-Titled Debut

Paste scribe Eric R. Danton writes that Bedouine’s music sounds like “a hot summer afternoon where nothing moves in the drowsy stillness but the beads of condensation sliding down a tall glass of something iced,” and that is the most perfect description to date: What Bedouine, aka Azniv Korkejian, is capable of, with haunting guitar/piano arrangements, horns, strings and her murmuring voice, smoothly surpasses songwriters that share her ‘60s/’70s vibes. Her self-titled debut on Spacebomb Records made our list of the 50 best albums of 2017 with a gusting force—her music contains mobility and air, from a life spent in transit from Syria to Saudi Arabia to America. She’s now shared two songs from the deluxe version of that album, “Louise” and “Deep Space.”

“‘Louise’ is a song about conviction,” Korkejian says in a statement. “The impetus was pondering the difficult decision a family makes during wartime, to stay or to leave and seek refuge. I caught myself being a critic of people that were risking their lives to stay home but the more I thought about it the more I sympathized and even wondered if I would make a similar decision.”

Bedouine (which, by the way, is a take on the word “bedouin,” the wanderer) wrote “Deep Space” while speaking with a fellow airline passenger who worked in satellite maintenance for deep space. “I used ‘Deep Space’ as an analogy for when you push yourself past the limits of your comfort knowing well it could be as rewarding as it is frightening,” she says.

Listen to both “Louise” and “Deep Space” below, and revisit Danton’s Best of What’s Next write-up on the singer-songwriter.