Pakistani-American pop artist Ali Sethi. Photo: Courtesy of the artist
To start off 2025, Pakistan-origin American pop artist Ali Sethi has released two singles – the wavy love song “Tera Sitam” and the ghazal-inspired reflective tune “Maya.”
On the back of releasing “Tera Sitam,” Sethi – who shot to further international fame with the release of Coke Studio song “Pasoori” with Shae Gill in 2022 – spoke with us about his upcoming collection of songs.
Experimentation is certainly key for Sethi, who is keeping listeners guessing after songs like “Lovely Bukhaar” that closed out 2024 for the artist. In an interview with Rolling Stone India, Sethi speaks with us about new music, looks back at his Coachella festival set in early 2023 and working with producers like Romil Hemnani (formerly of the group Brockhampton). Excerpts:
Rolling Stone India: First off, to go back to your 2024 single “Lovely Bukhaar” — what was it like starting off a new era of sorts with that song that’s perhaps now being continued with “Tera Sitam”?
Ali Sethi: I wanted to put out a strange-sounding song. Something wild and unexpected. I guess I wanted to throw myself off, not set any kind of expectation. While ‘Lovely Bukhaar’ and ‘Tera Sitam’ are very different songs — the former is smoky and unpredictable, the latter smooth and structured — they have one thing in common, which is the expression of a smoldering one-sided love.
When was “Tera Sitam” written and what has the road to feeling like it was ready for the world to hear it been like?
I made the melody with Romil Hemnani in his L.A. studio two years ago. It’s always like that for me: the tune comes first, in this case the whole thing came fully formed, the verse, the chorus etc. But for the words I had to think long and hard. Finally, I rang up my friend Sunayana Kachroo, a wonderful poet of Urdu, and together we hashed out the lyrics. I love what she brings to this song, a certain shehri Urdu that’s also steeped in our ancient, epic notions of exile and separation. I’m glad the song is out, the reactions have been intense and overwhelmingly good.
You also got nominated for a Juno recently for your song with Jonita Gandhi, “Love Like That.” What’s it like seeing that song get that kind of recognition?
That’s a marvelous song. Jonita is such a star. I’m so proud of her for pushing the envelope with ‘Love Like That’ — the musical arrangement as well as the visuals. She deserves the Juno and much more.
What can you tell me about the larger project that these singles like “Tera Sitam” are part of? Is it an album, an EP or something else at the moment?
It’s an album after all, though I feel kind of estranged from that word. I want to say it’s a mehfil or daastaan — in the South Asian tradition of song-collections. I want the listener to feel like they are in the presence of a moody maverick musician for 60 or so minutes. Like the qawwali or ghazal recitals I grew up attending in Lahore. One minute the music is slow and sultry, the next minute it’s a rave, a now-naughty, now-nice kind of thing.
You worked with Romil Hemnani (formerly of Brockhampton), among others for this song. What was the process like?
Totally wonderful. Romil was gentle and unassuming in the studio. Also subtle in his choice of tones and textures. When he’s inspired you can see it in his eyes. Some of his ideas that he shared with me — about what an album can or should be — were profound and blew my mind. I also love the fact that we were both born in Pakistan, me in Punjab and Romil in Sindh, but ended up meeting in far-off California. Now I am insta-friends with his mom who is super nice.
It’s coming up to a couple of years since your Coachella performances, in 2023. How do you look back at that? It kind of set the bar for South Asian artists performing at that festival, something they seem keen on continuing to do in their curation.
At the time I was trolled for wearing a flaring Mughal jama, which my fellow Pakistanis (and some Indians too) deemed “not representative of our culture,” whatever that means. But apart from that I had a blast. I was delighted to see all those South Asians in trippy desert prints and hats filling up my tent. They showed up, literally and metaphorically. It was all very ‘Dum Maro Dum,’ of the past and of the future at the same time.
As someone who’s been in this for a while, what do you feel about how South Asians have been represented on a global level? How much work do you feel is left for the music industry stakeholders themselves and the artists as well?
I think we are doing a great job of being us right now. That’s all I have to say: keep being you and doing you. Look at all the genres Punjabi music has assimilated into itself: rap, trap, rock, 80s synth pop, reggaeton, house and disco, all without losing or diluting its own idiosyncratic inflections. We need more of everything at this point in time, freewheeling expansive playfulness in all directions!
What’s coming up next in 2025?
This album thing. It’s good, it really is.