Parissa Tosif Reclaims the Voice of Her Iranian Lineage on Debut LP
Titled 'I Have This Memory of You', the record is a haunting blend of modern pop and Iranian instrumentation that is as much about listening and understanding as it is about singing.
After teasing pieces of her solo work over the past few months, Iranian-Australian artist Parissa Tosif has finally released her debut LP, I Have This Memory of You.
Best known as the vocalist and co-writer of electronic duo Vallis Alps, Parissa has spent years refining a sound that blends contemporary pop with the spiritual tonalities of Iranian music. On her solo debut, she explores, in her words, “Who and what has made me who I am?”, reflecting on her Iranian heritage while honoring the first generations of Iranian migrants and refugees worldwide.
“This album is me opening my heart. It’s my discovery, my gratitude, my longing, my love for my family and my history. I hope that people find something in it that makes them feel more connected to their own,” Parissa says. “Because my mum decided to leave Iran, and the sacrifices she made. I’m the first person in my family to have a public voice and to sing in public. I wanted to make something that was a gift to all the women in my lineage.”
The record is an intimate, shimmering portrait of identity, celebrating what Parissa calls “the ordinary in the extraordinary lives of migrants, refugees, and people who leave their motherland.”
Across ten tracks, she moves fluidly between past and present. Her voice is unguarded yet soulful, threading together ancestry, migration, and motherhood. Traditional Iranian instruments such as daf, tombak, and oud, alongside harmonies performed by Iranian musicians in Australia, are layered over spacious, delicate pop production. Each song reads as a personal excavation of her family history, revealing both discoveries and ongoing questions about her lineage.
Standout tracks include “Mysterious,” a haunting reinterpretation of a manuscript by her great-uncle written during a period of political unrest in Iran, and “River,” which captures the weight and uncertainty of migration.
With I Have This Memory of You, Parissa Tosif crafts a record that is as much about listening and understanding as it is about singing - not only recounting her own personal story but also highlighting the shared experience of displacement, offering a space for reflection that resonates beyond her personal narrative.
