BIOGRAPHY Her lyrics are as dark as charcoal. Her music is heartaching. Her biggest idol is Dolly Parton and most of all she would like to look like a New Orleans brothel owner. Asha Ali's self-titled album is different from her debut EP Warm fronts, that came out last year. At that time she recorded her songs like they sounded at the time, live in the studio - completely unproduced. But now she does it the other way around and delivers music both well-produced and self-produced, music that sounds much more. - When Warm fronts was released I really had no idea who I were. You could say that my life had been like a war, a war against so many tough things both on the inside and on the outside of me. But that war is over now (haha), and I won it. And all those things: the war, the darkness, illusions of passion and the search for a way of relating to a chaotic situation. That's what this album is about. Should you satisfy the expectations of your surroundings, or should you satisfy yourself? - I am so sick of passion. You know, the way love is portrayed: like a fairy tale. I don't believe in fairy tales. I want to believe in what's real. Every song describes a relationship. And a lot of those relationships appear to have been very hard, and demanding. - All of my life has been about relationships, that's the way I've defined myself. The relationships to my family and boyfriends have all had a very strong impact. And that's what I write about. - Earlier this year you could say I had a breakdown. Didn't know what I was doing. Went to the west coast. In the middle of winter, winds whistling, snow falling and the damned darkness. People said, you're crazy. But it was the right thing to do, I had to break my state of mind. With the risk of sounding like a cliche I guess you could say I was looking for myself. And at the same time I was working on this album. In 1997 Asha fell in love with Jeff Buckley. Or, putting it another way, she heard his song Mojo pin and it fit her mood perfectly: "It's SO dark, but so fucking good". And the Jeff Buckley connection is something that most people describing Asha has taken to heart. In every piece of writing about her Jeff Buckley is mentioned, which perhaps isn't that strange since she is strongly influenced by his music. But not limited to. - Dolly Parton is great. So strong. She never apologizes. That's the way I want to be! But I also like Joni Mitchell very much... And Nina Simone. This album was supposed to be about everything but apologizing. Mainly because she didn't feel like doing it herself any longer, but also because she didn't care for the way most girls are portrayed, especially in images: with their gaze fixed at a distant point and looking very fragile, like they are sorry to be in the way. The guys on the other hands look straight into the camera, like they're saying "do you see my pain"? That's the way Asha wanted to be this time. - The cover shot of this album says everything about the vibe I'm trying to commmunicate. It says who I want to be and where the songs come from. In front of me I saw a New Orleans mamasan. The person that really runs the city, who knows everything, is familiar with everyoneÕs secrets and who also makes a lot of money. When you see this woman you know you have to show respect. That's the feeling I wanted. The clothes and the makeup became powerful symbols. There would be a flourish of black and matte. The makeup wasn't supposed to say "look how pretty I am". The lips would be accentuated and take up the most room. They would be demanding, which is why the rest of the makeup was matted, and the mascara was minimal. These symbols and what they stand for are the things Asha has been thinking about and wanted to bring out in herself over the last two years.