As a graduate of the esteemed Rhythmic Music Conservatory, Melodi Ghazal is intrinsic to Copenhagen’s storied indie scene. Her full-length debut, Idol Melodies, is out March 6, 2026 via Anyines, blending ’80s pop and Iranian folk traditions. Today, Ghazal shares the second single, “Higher.” Moody riffs and jagged verses culminate in a slow jam chorus. Touching on dissolution of the self, “Higher” imbues nostalgia with complexity.
On the single, Ghazal shares: “This is a song I personally needed, perhaps as a form of manifestation. I sing about the dissolution of the self. About those moments where you can suddenly shift perspective – and really feel the shift – from the shutting-down, everyday trip, to the big, opening image of love and connection. It sounds a bit New Age in such a short description, but that is nevertheless the theme of the song. I sampled my friend Peter’s guitar recording and chopped it up, perhaps with indirect inspiration from the chopped, country-sounding guitar in Madonna’s ‘Tell Me,’ which I think is a fantastic track. The form was meant to be simple and repetitive, because I wanted it to feel like the repeated caress of warm skin. And I also think that at times I noticed myself having the Spice Girls’ ‘Viva Forever’ as a reference somewhere in my head during the process. Maybe it’s because of the comforting effect of nostalgia, that I have some clear references when listening to this song and remembering how it came to life – because this song I just wanted to be comforting to me.”
Melodi Ghazal’s output is reflective. The Copenhagen native was raised by Iranian parents, and an interest in music was nurtured at cultural gatherings. As a child, she delved into pre-revolutionary Iranian hits and the Los Angeles pop that emerged in the 1980s and ‘90s. Later, she discovered hitmakers including Dido and Celine Dion on VH1 and MTV. At her mother’s encouragement, she took up piano lessons.
Ghazal fell into stasis for almost a decade. “I stopped quite abruptly with the occurrence of my self-consciousness, especially about otherness in a very white context,” she remembers. “I felt a need to be anonymous.” She enrolled in university, but grew depressed working a day job. During one down swing, she felt the desire to write songs again and started an adult education program. Two years later, she was accepted at the groundbreaking Rhythmic Music Conservatory — a school that counts ML Buch, Astrid Sonne, and Clarissa Connelly as alumni.
Ghazal’s full-length debut, Idol Melodies, is titled in reference to spiritual symbolism and a yearning to dissolve oneself. The album materialized gradually, with initial daf frame drum ideas sparking as part of her thesis at RMC. Allowing intuition to guide, tracks began with elements ranging from riffs to synthesizer presets. On a trip to London, she collaborated with Anyines label founder Villads Klint (Minais B) and NTS resident Coby Sey. Peter Bruhn Rasmussen contributed electric guitar, while Albert Hertz played acoustic. Rising Danish songwriter Fine Glindvad was a consultant in the final stages. “In the process of writing songs, I am always navigating a feeling of longing that appears when the melody is right,” she says. The end result is spry and mercurial, echoing keyboards and downtempo grooves cloaked in fuzz.
Idol Melodies is catchy and eclectic, inspired by Sufi dervishes, Madonna’s conversion to Kabbalah, and Googoosh’s displacement. “I have paraphrased Hafez in several places throughout the album and worked with circular movements in the productions,” Ghazal shares. On “Destinies and Melodies,” she sings of surrendering to inexplicable forces that yield creativity. Atop the silvery strums of “Numb,” she decompresses from a challenging period in which loved ones were hurt. “In My Room” is the tenderest moment, using adolescent introversion to probe a relationship with newly immigrated parents. The whole record is sonically direct, yet emotionally textured.
Weaving Middle Eastern percussion and English-Persian vocals, Ghazal cultivates protectivity. Associative streams impact a journey of self-dissolution and connection. “Something had been simmering in me, and it came out in the underlying melancholy and searching,” she muses. A current of change steers Idol Melodies, which ruminates on a breakup, personal crisis, and ensuing transformation. Flowering between stretches of malaise, Idol Melodies shrouds storminess in magic.
Keep your mind open.
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[Thanks to Andi at Terrorbird Media.]
