The Quietus - A new rock music and pop culture website

Baker's Dozen

Virtual Mentors: Arooj Aftab's Favourite Albums
Jessica Wrigglesworth , April 5th, 2023 09:52

Arooj Aftab takes Jessica Wrigglesworth through thirteen albums that have defined her life and career, from her childhood in Lahore to studying at Berklee, the "New York hustle" of her 20s to her rise to international acclaim

Aabd6_1680445692_resize_460x400

Amel Larrieux – Infinite Possibilities

I was a fan of Groove Theory, [Larrieux’s previous group]. But when I was at Berklee, there’s this voice department where you have all the singers; there's all the tropes, the jazz singers, and the rock singers and the goth people and then there’s the R&B crew – who I became friends with. They were listening to Amel Larrieux records, both the 2004 one Brave Bird, but also Infinite Possibilities. God she can sing. It was something that was really hitting. The voice department in Berklee is just this giant melting pot of singers, which can be fun and terrifying at the same time. They were singing all the time, like 24/7, they're just belting out stuff walking down hallways, singing. I was very quiet, I actually didn't sing at all. I didn't really do live shows at Berkeley. I was in my listening mode, my incubator, absorbing mode. There was a lot to take in, and so I was doing that. And I think I was kind of shy – I was looking for what my sound is.