Written by: Sanam Samanian
In 2018, an obsession with Marie Colvin’s work led me to my now-friend Cyrus Shahrad, a British-Iranian writer who had spent time with Colvin in Tehran, covering Iran’s presidential election for the Sunday Times. His writings had been published in other reputable journals, including the New Statesman, the Guardian, Little White Lies and Huck. Later, I learned that he also writes music under the name Hiatus. And to my delight, the tracks, although electronically composed, featured a strong emotional layer.
Over the past three years I witnessed the coming-together of Cyrus’ fourth album: Distancer. Released in April 2021, it is an ode to ‘longing for connections’. Cyrus has thoughtfully arranged and juxtaposed unlikely elements into a cohesive story complete with eastern instruments, vocals and poetry.
In time for a post-pandemic reflection, I talked to him about the process of making this record; here’s our conversation:
The album is on Spotify, Soundcloud, iTunes, Apple Music, Bandcamp, and Youtube Music. CDs and Vinyls are also available. Further, here’s the embedded poetry and their translations for each respective track:
Photography: Spencer Murphy
Graphic Design: Ali Augur