Olcay Bayir – Tu Guli (Arc Music, 2024)

Olcay Bayir

Written by Michael Polychronis

More than a decade has passed since the triumphant debut of Olcay Bayir, which earned her a nomination for Best Newcomer in World Music at the prestigious Songlines magazine awards. Her 2014 album, Neva – Harmony, was praised by international publications such as The Guardian, bringing Bayir recognition beyond the confines of her genre. Since then, and leading up to her latest work, Tu Guli (2024), her career has been nothing short of remarkable!

London became the city she chose to live and create in, even though she was born in Turkey to a family of Kurdish Alevis. Initially, she went to the UK to study opera but soon realized her path lay elsewhere. Immersed in London’s multicultural environment, Olcay expanded her horizons, using her lyrical and well-trained voice to share the traditions of her ancestors in her own unique way. Communicating one’s identity in a foreign land is no easy feat—it often requires a change in perspective and approach. As she puts it:

I believe that the concept of identity is shaped by culture, not religion or nationality. I prefer to talk about traditions and places rather than religions or nations. Regardless of the country or religion we come from, these are merely words used to describe them.

This perspective is multifaceted and deeply reflected in her albums. Bayir sings songs from the broader Balkans and the Near and Middle East, alongside her own compositions. Her arrangements bridge the stylistic worlds of Eastern traditions and modern Western trends.

In her records, she sings in Greek, Turkish, Kurdish, and Armenian, collaborating with various artists who change with each project. Yet, she remains rooted in both the present and the rich heritage of her cultural traditions. She has often been likened to the “Kate Bush of Anatolia,” and not without reason. Her operatic and lyrical vocal quality lends a classical dimension to any language she sings in, without unnecessary theatrics or exaggeration, but with the gravitas required by the musical treasures she shares—always delivered with grace and balance.

Olcay Bayir carries on the tradition of bel canto singers who, particularly before the wars, defined the multicultural identities of cities like Constantinople and, earlier, Smyrna. She mirrors the post-war evolution seen in many major European capitals, where she now plays a role in preserving and innovating musical traditions.

With her album Tu Guli, Bayir pays homage to all women and, more broadly, to all people from her homeland who fight to preserve their traditions and dignity amid the hardships and tribulations of the region. Her voice is accompanied by musicians playing guitar, double bass, percussion, kopuz (a type of saz), zurna, oud, and duduk. Among them are standout contributors such as Kostas Kopanaris and Haig Yazdjian. Although the recordings were done remotely, Tu Guli is Bayir’s most stylistically cohesive album. Listening to it blindly, one might assume Haig Yazdjian had an even larger hand in shaping it.

In Tu Guli, we find highlights like the lively Kurdish wedding dance Edie, the poignant reflection on war in Setero, and the tribute to the challenges faced by women, including her grandmother in Anatolia, in Husna. Through Ag Elime Mor Kinalar Yaktilar, Bayir tackles social issues and historical injustices, urging listeners to consider the complexities of Anatolia’s history and identity—making it tragically relevant today. Finally, in Adana, she addresses the Armenian Genocide by Ottoman Turks in 1915.

With Tu Guli, Bayir justifies the album’s title. She herself is a shining “rose,” shedding light on the still-dark side of Anatolia through the lens of Europe and in a world that seems to be losing its rhythm, entering a grey, somber, and melancholic sky.

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