As intimate as a living-room concert, lo-fi by devotion, organic to the bone, perfectly imperfect, and deeply original like the handwritten word itself, “Live in Berlin, Vol. 1” arrives as the new album from soul/folk singer-songwriter Sariyah Idan.
The record revisits the best of her songs alongside dreamlike covers, forming a compelling, unique, and immersive collection. “Dance Me To The End Of Love” welcomes the listener into a journey that reveals its promise from the very first notes.
Sariyah’s bare voice, accompanied only by a solitary guitar and deeply subtle percussion, serves as the perfect opening to a compilation that feels born out of improvisation yet unfolds track by track as a carefully conceived work, one in which past and present converge to create a timeless record, where the seams are deliberately and unapologetically exposed.
Songs such as “Can We, Vibe,” “Let Me,” “Use Me,” and “Sweet Alibis” stand out thanks to Sariyah’s expressive range. Her raspy yet warm voice embraces the listener, evoking legendary jazz and R&B vocalists such as Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James, Norah Jones, and Amy Winehouse.
One of the most striking moments in the tracklist is “What A Wonderful World,” a reinterpretation of the classic popularized by Louis Armstrong. The song begins as a faithful cover of the original before taking an unexpected turn toward protest, confronting the injustices multiplying in contemporary society. As the singer explains, the track serves as a tribute to both her hometown, New York City, and her current home, New Orleans.
The album closes with a cover of Billie Holiday’s “Tell Me More And More And Then Some,” an ideal blend of jazz and soul that at times feels as though it could have been written specifically for Sariyah Idan, who makes it unmistakably her own.
Behind the almost domestic intimacy proposed by “Live in Berlin, Vol. 1” lies a career built with consistency and artistic intention. A singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and performer, she moves fluidly between acoustic soul, folk, and jazz, drawing influence from hip-hop, Latin, and Caribbean sounds, as well as her Jewish roots.
“Live in Berlin, Vol. 1” marks a new chapter in her journey. Recorded live and performed entirely solo, the album functions as a distillation of years of street-level musicianship, attentive listening, and direct engagement with audiences.
A previously announced Volume 2 will complete the two-part set recorded in Berlin, with each volume functioning as its own musical movement shaped by distinct themes and emotional arcs. Together, the two releases present “Live In Berlin” as a love letter across continents—rooted in Berlin’s attentive audiences and New Orleans’ street-level musical culture—capturing the artist in raw, one-take vulnerability where voice, guitar, and foot percussion become both compass and confession.
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