INTERVIEW: SHAB On Upcoming Album ‘One Suitcase’ And Joining Forces With UK Refugee Charity Choose Love

Incredible artist SHAB talks to Polly Havelock about the year so far and what she has planned for 2025.

‘One Suitcase’ is the title of your upcoming sophomore album, set for release in 2025. Can you tell us about the story behind it and what this album represents in your life? 

I have been working on this album between my performance obligations for about two years now — and I have intended the volume as a compendium of all of the musical influences to which I have been exposed during my time in the Middle East, Europe and America. The album title itself is drawn from the reality that I arrived in America as a young teenager fleeing fundamentalism, landing in New York unaccompanied on a Lufthansa flight, speaking no English and carrying all my worldly possessions from that time in a single, hand-carried suitcase. I understand refugee issues because I am one. 

How does this album differ from your debut, ‘Infinite Love?’ What themes or messages do you hope listeners take away from it? 

INFINITE LOVE, as much as I love the album, was the beginning of my learning experience as an artist. The beats and the themes that predominate that album were more traditional love and romance songs to which one could dance. 

I am hoping that my fans see natural progression in my evolution and growth as an artist on ONE SUITCASE, which features greater complexity in its rhythms and beats but, more importantly, delves into subject matters relating to my personal journey from a strict and fundamentalist youth experience but suddenly thrust into the freewheeling liberty of the West. 

Congratulations on becoming an ambassador for Choose Love. What inspired you to partner with this charity? 

As an American, I was not well acquainted with CHOOSE LOVE prior to last year, shortly before we began discussions I began to study and understand the organization’s mission. As being a refugee myself, I completely appreciate the difficulties in coming to a new and strange world. As a result, the mission of CHOOSE LOVE neatly overlays onto my own experience and it was such a natural fit for my involvement. 

Why is donating all profits from the sale of ‘One Suitcase’ albums to Choose Love such an important decision for you? 

I am not sure that I would use the word important in connection with my decision, although I would say that it was a meaningful and deliberate choice. I just thought – excuse the pun — that it was the best way to put my money where my mouth was: and if I was going to serve as an advocate for the organization, I thought I was important to demonstrate some substantial commitment beyond sweet words. 

How do you see your role as an ambassador helping to raise awareness for the refugee crisis? 

I think that everyone during the current era in the West is personally familiar with families or individuals who have come to their land as immigrants, but not many seem to know immigrants who came to the West as a result of necessity. Following the Iranian revolution, my family became instant enemies of the fundamentalist regime: and my own escape to the West was a decade-long process, being safeguarded for a few years in a German boarding school before getting permission to come to the United States. 

I am incredibly fortunate that virtually all of my targeted family members were able to escape the clutches of the gangster regime in Tehran and have since flourished, mostly in America. And while I am today thoroughly Americanized, through the connection of my fans to my story and my music, I very much want these listeners to appreciate and sympathize with the difficulties faced by refugees but also the value that they can bring to our societies. 

Congrats on your brilliant cover of ‘Santa Baby’. What was it like to work on your first seasonal release? 

SANTA BABY was a release quickly facilitated both in the studio and on screen, as it was intended as a fun piece of Ear & Eye Candy. I didn’t collaborate with my primary team back in Los Angeles on this effort but rather enlisted my music director, Mike Manning, and my Dallas producer, Remi Rafael, to get this project done with me. It was nice for the first time to be able to be a Mom at home in the morning but working in the studio during the afternoons and nights over the course of a week. 

After a landmark year in 2024, what are your goals for 2025? 

I want ONE SUITCASE to be well received and an introduction to my music for a new group of fans. I also hope that the album produces a lot of benefit for the CHOOSE LOVE charity. 

I am hoping for a major tour opportunity and am wishful that we could be announcing something fairly soon in that regard! 

And finally, I am wearing to get back into the studio to start working on a new collection of songs for release later during 2025. 

What can fans look forward to in your upcoming performances or projects related to ‘One Suitcase’? 

I am a far more confident performer, composer and singer than I was just a year ago when I had my first arena tour. I’m extremely proud of this new selection of songs and think that people are going to find them both relatable and grooveworthy. Come out to see for yourself!