Ali Sethi
City Recital Hall
Sufi soul, pop heart – prepare to be transported.
Pakistani-American author, composer, and performer Ali Sethi had the world humming with his blockbuster single 'Pasoori' - literally. It was Google's most hummed-to-search song in 2022, topping Spotify's Global Viral chart, and was declared "the biggest song to come out of Pakistan this century" by The Guardian UK. Now you can see him live in Australia for the first time.
Praised by Pitchfork for blending Western pop with ghazals and Sufi poetry, Sethi embeds critiques of nationalism and heteronormativity into his music. His acclaimed discography includes Intiha (2023), a Nicolas Jaar-produced album pairing Sufi poetry with electronic abstraction, and his 2025 solo debut, Love Language.
One of TIME's 100 Next stars, and called 'stealthily subversive' by The New Yorker, his irresistible melodies and sultry beats are matched by poetic lyrics exploring love, queerness, faith and tradition. His live shows are an immersive blend of musical performance and cultural storytelling—what he calls a "variety show for the end times".
