The Swedish composer with Iranian roots studied at Stockholm’s Royal Institute of Art and was already freelancing as a musician with countless local artists and bands by the time she left. Shahabi soon found herself writing for dance, cinema, theatre and fine art contexts, finally releasing her debut album, Homes, in 2018. It was quickly championed by BBC Radio’s Mary Anne Hobbs and Gilles Peterson, not to mention Mojo magazine, who praised it as, “half-submerged music that rewards the attentive ear.” Over the following five years, she recorded a five track EP of her own, Shifts, as well as tracks for a split EP, The Sea at The End of Her String, with 130701 labelmates Resina and Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch, not to mention a reworking of Beethoven’s ‘Piano Sonata No. 26’ for Deezer’s Beethoven Recomposed project.

Shahabi also scored the short films Lake on Fire (2020) and Alvaret (2021), as well as the feature films Lovely, Dark and Deep (2023) and the award-winning Falcon Lake (2022). In addition, she has taken part in carefully selected live performances at prestigious events like Max Richter and Yulia Mahr’s Reflektor festival at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie and Film Four’s inaugural Summer Screen season at London’s Somerset House.

2023 saw the release of her second album, Living Circle, a carefully calibrated blend of classical and electronic elements. Combining ambient and drone techniques with traditional structures, its emotional resonance floats elusively within profoundly atmospheric, uncluttered compositions rich in textural detail and pervaded by a low-end warmth. An unusually immersive style, this provides a refuge which invites a reaction as cerebral as it is sentimental. 

Living Circle forms the basis of her Intonal concert, performed alongside Hampus Norén on electronics and synthesizer and Gerda Holmquist on cello.