Defne Sahin was born and raised in Berlin but has established herself in the international music scene with her unique, cosmopolitan sound that seamlessly blends jazz, pop, and Turkish music. Her third album Hope pairs the poetry of Emily Dickinson with evocative compositions and lyrics, creating a modern and enchanting song cycle.
As the daughter of Turkish immigrants and influenced by her experiences living between New York, Barcelona, and Istanbul, Sahin is a shapeshifter who connects multiple worlds and cultures through her music. She proves herself a talented musician who can bridge genres effortlessly.
Her experiences as an immigrant woman allow Defne Sahin to address a wide range of emotions and stories by skillfully merging poetry, lyrics and music. It is not the first time Sahin has used this format – but it works.
On her 2011 album Yasamak, she set the poetry of Turkish dissident Naz?m Hikmet to music, engaging with his political life and his time in exile. Her 2016 album Unravel was produced by the esteemed pianist and composer Guillermo Klein in New York, and found Sahin exploring her personal life through evocative compositions, profound lyrics, and silky voice.
On Hope, she returns to the music and poetry format – and she does this well. This is an album closely connected to Dickinson’s poetry and reflects on universal themes such as life and death, love and longing, fear and hope, and ultimately release. The album was composed under the mentorship of Grammy nominee Becca Stevens.
The results are evocative, as Defne Sahin’s lyrics traverse many emotions and life events, from deep loss to equally deep longing. What she manages to do effortlessly is infuse the music with Eastern rhythms, vocal techniques, and some gorgeous instrumentation – all the while remaining current and relevant because her vocal lines also easily traverse styles.
Her voice is exceptional and pitch-perfect, which is always good for the listener. From wonderfully intricate tracks like “Mavi” to the emotive, powerful lines of “Have You Got a Brook In Your Little Heart” (with its time signature changes and rhythmic signatures in many different styles encompassed within one number), Sahin shows a wide vocal range – and boy, can she do sassy too. Watch for the swooping chest notes on “Let Go,” and the ethereal tones on “Hope Is the Thing with Feathers,” which also features a great bass solo.
Defne Sahin took two years to study Emily Dickinson’s works and create the music, and it shows. There is a sense of collaboration between the poet – who was relatively unknown when she died in 1886, before her poems were really discovered after her death. Sahin brings them to life and has created music that respectfully enhances the words and meanings held within. She also manages to show her possible addiction to perfection in the best possible way.
There is an innocence to Defne Sahin’s voice, yet she proves she can utter powerful lyrical phrasing, particularly on “There’s a Certain Slant of Light,” where she is innocent one moment and forceful the next – yet never once loses pitch. She can also be prayerful and evocative such as on “Tie the Strings to My Life,” and also capture the sense of being one with nature and trusting your inner self such as on “Blessing from a Lioness.”
Defne Sahin’s ‘Hope’ is an album of many facets, each one a little gem in the beautifully finished piece.
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