The exile of Arooj Aftab and what Alana Valentine built from the fire of Notre-Dame

Arooj Aftab’s 2021 album Vulture Prince took her ten years to write, and for the final two she had to shut all other music out of her life. “I just was trying to make a thing that didn't have a blueprint" she says, of an opus that combines jazz, experimental electronica and Sufi devotional music with her own unique voice. She's about to tour the album here and looks back at over a decade of work with Andy before she hits Australian stages.

When Notre-Dame caught fire in 2019, playwright Alana Valentine was amongst those moved by the sight. That emotional response eventually sparked a collaboration with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, fittingly called Notre-Dame, which uses a narrative poem to tell the story of the disaster and the long life of the cathedral. 

Plus new music from Kirin J Callinan and Cameron Undy.