Norfolk and Norwich Festival 2025

AROOJ AFTAB & WOOLY AZIZ

Norwich Cathedral

09/05/25

The joy of the Norfolk & Norwich Festival, for me at least, is the chance to see something outside of my usual experiences in a venue that I wouldn’t normally visit. Tonight, the first show of NNF25, is an almost perfect example of that: Saudi-born, Pakistani-raised, US resident AROOJ AFTAB supported by Berlin-based, Pakistani WOOLY AZIZ in Norwich’s Anglican cathedral. 

The performance starts before the doors open: people - who I assume to be festival volunteers - walking around the Cathedral grounds wearing speakers playing drone music that sounds like it is coming from decaying audio tape. Sounding like something from Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s early days, it is somewhat unexpected. It is March Static, composed by Thomas Meadowcroft and, when the doors do open, it is being performed live by Speak Percussion, All The Queens Men and local musicians dotted around the Cathedral.

Proceedings properly commence with WOOLY AZIZ, the pseudonym of Jannat Sohail, formerly Wooly & The Uke, Sohail is backed up by Wolle Huber playing keys whilst triggering backing tracks, samples and percussion. The set’s opening is abrasive, avant-garde electronic music that borders on Jerusalem In My Heart or Factory Floor before heading into darkly gothic piano-led torch songs. These still incorporate the experimental, electronic elements and bring to mind Carla Bozulich’s (excellent) album Evangelista or Max Richter’s The Blue Notebooks, 

Even without the backstory - born in Saudi Arabia to Pakistani parents,  partially raised in Lahore, a degree in music production and engineering from Boston's Berklee College of Music, based in New York, influenced by the likes of Billie Holiday, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Mariah Carey and Begum Akhtar, career arguably launched by a cover of Cohen’s Hallelujah - Grammy award winning artist AROOJ AFTAB is an intriguing artist. Her recorded output ranges from minimalism, folk, and pop to Hindustani classical, electronics and jazz. Tonight’s set was firmly in the latter camp, taking in songs from third and fourth albums Vulture Prince and Night Reign. 

The cathedral is a splendid venue and Aftab is an engaging and entertaining performer but this is music that is perhaps more suited to a smokey New York dive bar. Whatever, it is an enthralling show.  With acoustic guitar, upright bass and percussion (and, I think, some backing tracks) it brings to mind a stripped back Leonard Cohen or Jennifer Warnes playing an acoustic version of Famous Blue Raincoat. 

A little unfortunately, the show overran and I had to leave as Aftab announces the “last song”. Over to my Outline co-contributor David Vass:

“She played one more song which she described as her metal number. It reminded me of Black Sabbath played by Kula Shaker - in a good way. Probably my favourite of the night. They got Wooly Aziz back on stage to take a bow with them and they played what looked like an unplanned encore in response to applause that wouldn’t stop,” 

All in all, a fantastic opening to NNF25.