2023 · Album
Love in Exile
Recorded 2023, in a studio in New York · Verve Records · Released: March 24, 2023
Three Musicians Finding Home in Sound
Love in Exile captures what happens when three strong voices decide to listen harder than they speak.
Love in Exile arrives as the first album from Vijay Iyer, Arooj Aftab, and Shahzad Ismaily working together, and it's a genuinely interesting pairing — not because anyone needed their permission to collaborate, but because what they made together actually sounds like a conversation rather than a session. Aftab's voice, which carries the weight of Urdu and South Asian classical music, moves through these pieces with real restraint. She's not showing off. Iyer's piano playing here feels more spacious than some of his other work — he leaves room, which tells you something about what this trio is after. Ismaily's multi-instrumental approach anchors things without ever demanding attention.
What makes this work is the specific chemistry. The album doesn't reach for fusion or world-music exoticism in the way you might expect. Instead, it sounds like three musicians who respect each other's traditions enough not to flatten them into something digestible. "Shadow Forces" — the track that picked up a Grammy nomination — has a particular pull to it, the kind of quiet intensity that doesn't announce itself but doesn't let go either. The recording itself, done in a New York studio, has clarity without feeling cold. You hear the space between the instruments.
If you're new to Iyer, this isn't the place to start. His earlier trio work and his soundtrack recordings showcase his range more completely. But if you know his music and want to hear him restraint himself in service of something bigger than keyboard virtuosity, this album delivers. For Aftab listeners, this is essential — it shows her voice working across idioms without losing its core. The album sits comfortably with both musicians' catalogs as a side project that turned out to be worth your time.
