BIO:

Stockholm-based Shida Shahabi is a pianist and composer, whose stunning debut album Homes (October 2018) drew widespread acclaim and announced her as an exciting new voice in the genre – meshing a strong melodic sensibility with an intimate and deeply atmospheric exploration of space and timing.

Born in the Swedish capital in 1989 to Iranian parents who had recently fled the Iran-Iraq war, Shida studied piano from the age of 9 and began writing melodies on the instrument as soon as she could compose with two hands. 

After giving up on classical music to study fine art at The Royal institute of Art in Stockholm in 2009, Shida soon returned to music-making having found its directness and emotional aspect lacking in the art world. 

Citing film music as being a big inspiration, Shida’s career in scoring film is still in its infancy, though she has gained some experience in writing for film commercials. She worked on the animated Swedish short film The Burden (directed by Niki Lindroth von Bahr), helping to arrange parts of composer Hans Appelqvist’s score as well as playing piano on it. Premiered in 2017, the film received recognition Cannes, Sundance and TIFF. Shida also wrote for another Swedish short film, Schoolyard Blues (directed by Maria Eriksson) which again premiered in early 2017 and was selected for TIFF kids and by other festivals like Karlovy Vary Film Festival and Olympia international Film Festival.  

Shida signed to 130701 in February 2018, after the label were floored by the beauty of her album recordings. Her debut album, Homes was released to significant acclaim in October that year, alongside her first solo live performances. Two of her tracks also appeared on an EP, The Sea At The End Of Her String, which was produced around a short label tour featuring 130701 label peers Resina and Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch. A new EP, Shifts was released in November 2019.

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