top of page

MICHELLE QURESHI, Shimmer and Lineage

Jonathan Widran

In just a few words to a question about the different sonic approaches she takes on the multitude of acclaimed, award winning albums and EPs she has released over the past 12 years, composer and multi-instrumentalist Michelle Qureshi makes it clear that every composition and project she creates are part of an ongoing flow that is never just about one style or another.


Upon releasing her two new EPs Shimmer and Lineage in rapid succession a few months after her full length album Zindagi, she says, “It’s not really linear, ambient vs. acoustic or anything else. I’m all of these things all at once, never just working on one style at a time. Some of Lineage, in fact, was written at the same time as some of the pieces on Zindagi.


Whatever vibe she expresses from release to release, the constant beautiful flow of Michelle’s prolific compositional output is a wonder to behold and immerse in. On Shimmer, she only needs three tracks and nine minutes to invite us to immerse in an intricate fusion of her organic, graceful acoustic style in tandem with the surreal exotica and sparkling harmonies of Shezahd Hussain’s mesmerizing sitar strains.


As we traverse the sonic landscape from the gently dazzling reflections of “Stones That Shimmer” (featuring arpeggiated elements to musically capture fast rippling water) through the haunting, mystical exploration “Sparkling Within This Night” and the seductive invitation to “Walk at Dawn,” it feels as though Michelle is bringing us along on a very personal exploration.


She makes this even more emotionally impactful by choosing an acoustic guitar she plays across her body at the heart chakra. Interestingly as well, these three tunes are inspired by elements of previously released pieces; “Stones that Shimmer” comes from the “Skipping Stones” on her 2019 album Sage, while “Sparkling Within the Night” and “Walk at Dawn” are both drawn from her early 2024 album A Day on Venus.


Considering the connection she feels for the sitar, we can hope that the nine minutes of Shimmer is just the start of more projects featuring the instrument. “Having a husband from Pakistan connects me more to his culture and music I also love,” she says.


If Shimmer offers a connective thread to her husband, the eight tracks of Lineage find Michelle meditating powerfully on and expressing the daily realities of her life as a devoted caregiver at the end of her mother’s life and later as a mom in love with the baby girl who chose Michelle to be her mother in this lifetime. Starting with the contemplative, lyrical hypnosis of “Days So Long,” the emphatic multi-generational expression through the eight songs and 21 minutes of Lineage is a powerful flow of circular, divinely originated love inspired by the triple goddess energy of maiden-mother-crone and how it relates to the artist’s own life.


Once listeners know where Michelle’s art here comes from spiritually and emotionally, they can enjoy the album as a relaxing, uplifting and intricately performed sojourn through the contours of their own heart and life experiences. The core of Lineage is the three song “love” sequence, starting with a reminder to be grateful and “Love What You Have,” immersing gracefully into an exploration of “This Shade of Love” and sharing the grand truth that in some blessed families, there is “Unbroken Love” that endures from generation to generation – and stays with us even after our loved one departs this mortal plane.



Other songs whose titles reflect different aspects of Michelle’s deeply lived experiences include the charming and wistful “So We Walked,” the haunting “Time to Let Go”, the reality of the approaching darkness via “Night Arrives” and the somber but somehow gloriously life affirming “Rest Now,” a piece created with three voices, a ukulele, guitar and an octave lower guitar that serves as both a lullaby to Michelle’s daughter and a heartfelt goodbye to her beloved mother.  


Very different in style, tone and theme, Shimmer and Lineage are two unique projects from Michelle Qureshi that are meant to be listened to as separate sonic pathways into her music and life. Listened to one after another, we get a complete sense of the people and things that inspire her most, expressed beautifully in a remarkable 30 minutes.   

Comments


bottom of page