Producer and songwriter Rostam has announced details of a new album titled American Stories, set for release on 15th May via Matsor Projects.
The record follows his 2021 solo album Changephobia and represents one of Rostam’s most personal projects to date. Drawing directly from his background as an Iranian-American musician, the album explores the intersection between Persian musical traditions and American songwriting.
Rostam began hinting at new material earlier this year with a one-off cover of Vampire Weekend’s ‘Campus’, a playful reinterpretation that now appears to have been a prelude to a larger body of work.
For American Stories, Rostam worked closely with fellow Iranian-American musician Amir Yaghmai, known for his work with The Voidz. Together they developed arrangements that place traditional Persian instrumentation alongside elements of Americana and pop.
“At some point in making this record I realised the album I wanted to make was one that reflected my identity as both Iranian and American,” Rostam explains. “Pushing the most Iranian elements right up against the most American ones brought me a certain kind of joy.”
One key moment came when he began layering microtonal saz melodies against Western guitar chords.
“The first time I put microtonal saz melodies over Western guitar chords, I was thrown off by the way the two rubbed together. But the more I listened the more I became drawn to that rub. I became addicted to it.”
The sessions brought together a wide group of collaborators. Among them are Clairo, who appears on the song ‘Hardy’, along with contributions from Daniel Aged, Paul Cartwright, Gabe Noel, Hamilton Berry, Henry Solomon, Andrew Tachine and Joey Messina-Doerning.
Alongside the album, Rostam has also filmed a live performance project titled American Stories: A Concert Film. Directed by Antony Muse, the film captures an eight-song performance recorded at the legendary Sound City Studios in Los Angeles and opens with the album’s lead single ‘Like A Spark’.
American Stories arrives on 15th May.
Tracklist
- Like a Spark
- Back of a Truck
- Different Light
- Hardy
- Forgive Is To Know
- To Feel No Way
- The Road to Death
- Come Apart
- The Weight
