In Conversation: TĀLĀ

British-Iranian singer, songwriter and producer TĀLĀ returns with her powerful new single, 11-11 (We Are), available everywhere now. The track is the latest preview of her forthcoming album 11, due on 11th July, and follows acclaimed releases Ghosts and I Need It, which earned support from COLORS, Headliner Magazine and Wordplay. Blending influences from her Iranian heritage with UK underground sounds, TĀLĀ continues to craft a distinctive fusion of R&B and electronic music.



You made 11-11 (We Are) during an all-night studio session with The Holy Mountain playing on repeat. If listeners could step inside that studio for five minutes, what do you think would surprise them most?

I think how intuitive the process was and how quickly the main bones of the song came together. Jazz and I are really good at feeding off each other's energy, and the way that I feel collaborations work really well is when you can intuitively create with another person, being open to where they are going with an idea and, as a producer, getting what it is that they are describing or what sound it is that they want to create. But honestly just two friends having a fun night at the studio and made a dope song in the process

The number 11 is often linked to intuition, synchronicity, and spiritual awakening. What was your relationship with the number before it became the title of the album?

11 feels like duality to me and is the reason that I wanted to name my album after it. I’ve always been drawn to the number 11, and it shows up in my life everywhere. I was born on the 11th, my daughter too, and my husband and I were married on 11/11. I am constantly seeing it everywhere, and it often shows up in the most magical and mystical ways.

I was told by a magical man in Madrid that 11 is my number and it follows me everywhere and that every 11 years I enter a new chapter/cycle of my life.

Growing up with influences ranging from Googoosh to UK Garage and R&B, was there ever a moment when you realised that blending worlds was actually your superpower as an artist?

I honestly don’t think I realised it for a long time; I would combine those inspirations, which would naturally be a culmination of East/West, old and new. It was pointed out later on when I released music, when I first realised the duchess, and when people would interview me or ask me about my heritage.

You describe the album as being about duality and balance. What's the most unexpected duality in your own personality that people might not know about?

That’s such an interesting question.

I think that I’m often a complete contradiction; it almost doesn’t make sense.

I love to make things beautiful and often just want to create with everything I’m doing, whether it be a meal I’m making, music or my home. However, I’m drawn to quite unusual and strange things and sources when it comes to what inspires me to create something beautiful.

A psychic once told me that I have the souls of an old wise lady and a child and nothing in between, and that really sums me up in a nutshell.

If you could invite three people—living or dead—into a listening party for 11, who would they be and why?

My dad, because I think he would just love to hear what I’m working on, and I would love him to be there.

Prince because I think we just connect over stuff that would be outside of music and maybe the feeling of music as a whole and where it comes from and I would love to just have deep philosophical chat about that

Alejandro Jodorowsky because I have been so heavily influenced by his work particularly around this album, that it would only be fair to include him. I also would love to ask questions about Holy Mountain.

I’ve realised that I’ve not included any women here, so if I may add a fourth, I would include Missy Elliott because she is such a huge inspiration for me, especially when I was growing up. I think she is one of the most inspiring and revolutionary artists when it comes to crossing genres, and her albums are crazy and have inspired so much music. Missy Elliott's So Addictive is one of my all-time favourite albums.

You've worked as an artist, songwriter, producer, and executive producer. Which role feels most natural to you, and which one pushes you furthest outside your comfort zone?

The chorus of 11-11 (We Are) feels incredibly communal. What's the most powerful lesson you've learned from collaboration that you couldn't have discovered on your own?

Singing about a topic essentially concerning arriving in this world alone and leaving it alone can feel peaceful and almost comforting when collaborating with another person knowing we all share the same human experience.

Your music often feels cinematic. If 11-11 (We Are) were the soundtrack to a film scene, what would we be watching on screen?

Come on now… it would be holy mountain obvs...

The scenes with the alchemist and the table around the eye crossed with some of the religious images.

You've collaborated with artists across different countries and cultures. Is there a musical tradition or sound from somewhere in the world that you're still eager to explore in a future project?

Yes, I would love to explore and work with secretive music collectives in the Middle East that need to keep their identities safe. Particularly in countries like Iran, where creating music that isn’t about God or religion is illegal. I think these parts of the world often have some of the most interesting creatives and subgenres because of their political situations within their countries that create some very interesting and inspiring art. Also areas in the Middle East and parts of Asia where it is rare to hear of female music producers.

Looking back at the artist who released The Duchess EP in 2014, what do you think she would make of the TĀLĀ who's about to release 11 today?

I think that she would be proud of the integrity that I’ve had and the journey I’ve been on which, although it has been a zig-zag and not a straight line, has taken me to interesting places.

It’s something I check in with myself regularly about, the way that I perceive success and how my younger self may have imagined a more straight-line career or that I would have reached more of a generic type of success and that I may have been a bigger or more highly acclaimed artist, but that life is long and the fact that I’ve travelled and explored such interesting places and music even without that; my music journey feels rich and colourful, and that’s something I’m very much proud of.

You often write about deep emotional and spiritual themes. What's the strangest, funniest, or most random thing that's ever inspired a song lyric?

A dream that I once had about a song that I created that didn’t exist.

I wrote it down in the morning exactly how I heard it and what colour it was to me.

I then went on to make it, and it’s my song; everybody’s free. That song was a massive part of my journey, and I believe that dream was for a reason.