Azniv Korkejian, also known as Bedouine, is out today with a new single called “When You’re Gone.” This is her first release since last October’s pair of covers of classic ’70s acts Elton John and Linda Perhacs. In 2017, we made Bedouine an Artist To Watch upon the release of her self-titled debut album. Poetic in both lyrics and orchestration, the country-tinged record also garnered Korkejian a spot on our Best New Bands Of 2017 list.

With all that prior acclaim in mind, you won’t be surprised to learn that we booked Bedouine for Range Life, our party in Austin next week during SXSW — or that our expectations for her new music are extremely high. “When You’re Gone” lives up.

Floating somewhere between the calm of jazz and folk, the new song is just as lyrically striking as we’ve come to expect from Bedouine. It blossoms with strings that elevate her already heavenly sagacity in observing the ongoings around her. Her vocals, in both tone and enunciation, sound strikingly similar to Brazilian bossa nova singer Astrud Gilberto, only adding to this worldly sense of elegant consciousness that continues to shine through her music.

Here Korkejian is with more on how this song came to be:

When I started “When You’re Gone” I was just messing around with pretty chords. Then the lyrics spontaneously came to me much later when I read something on Instagram, which is kind of hilarious. It triggered a line that eventually rolled out the entire song. In retrospect I think it reflects on the time since I’ve released my first record; in nondescript hotel rooms alone or getting dropped off a cliff after tour is over, not exactly sure what to do with myself. It also touches on what that can mean when it comes to the people you’re closest to. My favorite part may be the delicate intro that’s tucked away in the record as a hidden track.

Listen to “When You’re Gone” below.

“When You’re Gone” is out now on Spacebomb Records.