Shahed Mohseni Zonoozi
The Journey
(Inter-Continental)

Opening with Salar Hamzei’s high-spirited guitar noodling and percussion, with trilling female vocals and Şefkat Sağlamer’s accordion on top, “The Cyprus Station” begins Shahed Mohseni Zonoozi’s album, The Journey. We get even wilder percussion rolls on “Persian Norwuz,” and an electric piano floating above. The bass and a subtle key bed is just a perfect, rich mix to get your feet tapping, while “Power of Love” employs an electronic backing, electric guitars picked and thrummed, with some James Bond-like melody in the background. And with its big, multi-voiced chorus, this tune is probably the most commercial track of the early ones here. The childlike trilling of “My Life is Çok Güzel” (again with a soft, MOTR vocals from both a male and female) pushes through singable territory. The last tune, “Unrecognized Country,” reveals the full breath of what Zonoozi is presenting here. It has soft bass, once again spot-on acoustic guitar mastery, and a full swirl of the tapestry of where these ten were obviously leading. This is the first official music album of Inter-Continental, founded in 2011 by Zonoozi while he was still a student in Cyprus. In school he made many friends from many nations. Inspired by this cultural kaleidoscope, he set out to amass a team of dedicated artists committed to using music and the performing arts to create unique pieces like the ten songs presented here. The Journey is the first of his endeavors to better the planet.