London-based Turkish artist releases album in digital platform

ISTANBUL

Turkish musician Olcay Bayır, who lives in London, has released her new album “Inside - İçerde” on digital platform.

Four songs in the album paint an emotion-portrait of Bayır’s inner life during the pandemic.

“Lockdown was imposed just two days before we were to go on a tour. The world stopped and we had to find ourselves. Many musicians started to record or stream from home, but this was not something that I was used to. It is not easy to work with other musicians remotely. There are many problems, including having different ideas about the music. When you are together in a studio you can discuss and exchange ideas more easily. But I’m really happy with the final result,” Bayır said in a statement.

Born in the southeastern province of Gaziantep, Bayır started composing songs at an early age. When she was a teenager, she moved to London with her family.

Nominated for best newcomer in the Songlines Music Awards 2015 for her debut album “Neva,” Olcay has been described as “one of the finest, most intriguing singers on the British world music scene, with a style that reflects her complex history” by The Guardian.

The new digital album’s musicians include Deniz Mahir Kartal, Serdar Barçın, Erdoğan Bayır, Murat Sığırcı, Ignacio Monteverde, Engin Sagun, Memed Mert Baycan, Alistair Mac Sween, Erdi Arslan, Christian Prior, Kostas Kopanaris, Mehmet Bal and Tom McCredie.