Ten minute tea with Afternoon Tea. Spend ten minutes with Afternoon Tea. In the time it takes to boil one kettle, and let one cup of tea steep, we will have your daily art + music fix covered. Take your afternoon tea break with our Afternoon Tea curators.
Today’s tea + soundtrack + visuals curated by Naghmeh.
Naghmeh is an Iranian-Canadian singer/songwriter, poet, and community organizer. She began performing as a solo artist in 2016 while living in San Francisco, and decided to abandon the corporate grind to pursue her dream of becoming a musician. Naghmeh jumped head first into the world of rock ‘n roll and set off on the road over the following year with performances across Europe and South America.
After a year on the road and a few international collaborations, Naghmeh moved back to Montreal to focus on the next step of her career. She assembled a band, performed in every corner of the city, and recorded, co-produced and released her debut album, Naghmeh and the Southern Shores, in 2019. Shortly after the album release, her longtime bandmates moved to different cities which Naghmeh poetically interpreted as a sign to close that chapter. The songs had always been her personal stories, and thus came the decision to release future music as a solo artist under the name Naghmeh.
Speaking on her latest single “Burn,” Naghmeh says:
In 2019, I left an abusive relationship and in the rush to move out and distance myself from the person, I left a lot of things behind. Those objects became a thread connecting me to that ex and became his excuse to remain in touch, only to make me relive those traumatic experiences. One day, I realized I had started a whole new life and didn’t need any of the things that connected me to that home and that relationship, and I felt ready to let it all go and burn it.
Stream + share the vexed “Burn” now:
With a background in psychology and her migration journey, she uses songwriting as a tool to heal from her own personal trauma, and to connect with others who struggle to bring a feeling to the surface. Naghmeh raises awareness for the experience of the Middle Eastern diaspora, and is doing so through the art of music.
Growing up in Iran, I have a bias towards black teas (chaee- the farsi word for tea), especially if served nabaat. What is Nabat, you ask? Nabat is a Persian rock candy made up of large sugar crystals infused with saffron. A few weeks ago I found a bag of Earl Grey tea with blueberry petals left behind in my house. I have no idea who left that tea behind and when, but it is absolutely divine. I will infuse it with a bit of nabaat and a splash of oat milk for a cozy fall evening. Yes… I drink black tea in the evening. I like to live dangerously.
I’m always in awe of the synchronicities in life and how they bring special messages to us. I’m sure I miss 100s a day just from looking down on my phone, but if I’m lucky, I get to catch one whilst doom-scrolling on instagram. I wanted to tell you about one of these coincidences.
I’ve been following the work of visual artist Nedjma Ziarati (@nedjma_ziarati), a painter with a modern take on the ancient art of Persian miniature. A few weeks ago, she posted the painting below, with the caption “Light the fire within”.
I had to do a double take. The person in her painting looked just like the person on the cover art for my song Burn. In my version, the dress of flames represents a symbol of rebirth. Nedjma interprets flames as passion that leads to transcendence. It was a very sweet moment for me to connect with this artist who painted an incredibly similar image, drawing inspiration from a different source.
My chaee nabaat is getting a bit cool, so I better sip it faster.
The trees in Nedjma’s painting remind me of Bent Tree by Uñas Escondidas. She is a dear friend, and we met at a virtual open mic in the early pandemic days. I fell in love with her music and her voice, and in the last year, we’ve collaborated and toured together. On tour, I became obsessed with this song. Everytime she would sing it, I would dance and sing along. I wasn’t the only one. At one of our gigs, my best friend’s four year old daughter came to our show. She became a huge fan. Apparently, she plays this song on a loop at their house every morning. It’s a super catchy and beautiful tune about questioning the rules we grow up with, and the nonsense our parental figures drill into us.
Tea + Me 