INTRODUCING: Seera

Following a breakout 2025, all-women Saudi psychedelic rock band Seera return with their powerful new EP Sarab, out now via Women in CTRL Records / CTRL Music.

Released after the band’s landmark London debut in October, Sarab captures Seera at their most expansive and self-assured—blending desert-psych, cinematic alt-rock, and Arabic poetry into a body of work that explores transformation, resilience, and rebirth. The EP marks a defining moment for the Riyadh-based quartet as their sound continues to resonate far beyond borders.

To accompany the EP release, Seera also unveil “Zaman”, an epic, rousing slab of psychedelic alt-rock that unfolds as an intergenerational reflection on time, memory, and becoming. Together, Sarab and Zaman solidify Seera’s place as one of the most compelling new voices emerging from the region.

1. Your new single “Akhir Sarkha” blends desert-psych textures with recordings of endangered species through EarthSonic. How did working with biologists and these ‘last screams’ influence the song’s emotional direction and your approach to sound design?

Nora: Emotionally, it pushed me to ask questions to reflect, reassess, and understand where I stand in all of this. Working with EarthSonic became a doorway into deeper research, It was a reminder of what we’re still responsible for as humans.On the production side, I approached each animal call as if it were an instrument with its own timbre. I love sound design, so I spent a lot of time shaping their frequencies, stretching textures, adding subtle modulation and anything that would let their natural character lead the composition. Some calls acted like percussion once I carved out the transients, others felt almost like synth pads when I layered and filtered them.

Meesh: It was an incredibly special project for us. The animal sounds shaped the twists and turns of the song. Listening to their cries made us reflect on the destruction caused by humankind’s endless search for convenience, and you can hear that in both the music and it’s lyrics. Toward the end, we wanted to shift the emotion into something bittersweet, a reminder that even in all this chaos, there is still some good, and new life continues to be born.

Haya: this was truly an enriching experience for us. Getting to learn about the animals, hearing their voices and sharing their stories through ours made this a meaningful project that we are proud to have collaborated on.

Thing: EarthSonic sent us the raw recordings which weren’t just “samples”, they sounded like creatures pushed to the edge and this was heard in their breaths and cries. When you hear that, you stop thinking like a musician for a second and you're just a human listening to something disappearing.The animals had irregular timing, strange frequencies that were not predictable and that actually shaped the emotional spine of the track when it came to the drums composition. I leaned into that instability; intro hits echo the fractured way those creatures vocalize; sharp, uneven, almost defensive. The toms and low-end patterns mimic the pulse of something moving through an unsafe landscape. The push-pull in the transitions came directly from how the animals would fall silent suddenly, almost like the environment swallowed them, and the cymbal work is intentionally sparse, more like warnings than flourishes.This together with each band member’s intentional and thoughtful composition, and final production and sound design made the song much more interesting and highlighted the urgency of this cause.

2. The visualiser for “Akhir Sarkha” uses intentionally corrupted generative code to mirror human interference with nature. How involved were you in shaping that concept, and what does the digital decay represent for you artistically?

Group answer: The visuals had to feel like something breaking, not something polished. That digital decay represents the same thing the track carries sonically; humans interrupting natural systems until they glitch, deform, or collapse. It’s not aesthetic for the sake of “cool visuals” but rather a reminder that the damage always shows, and that was reflected in the concept through collaboration with Null Out There’s concept.

3. Last year you completed your first European tour, including your London debut at Queen Elizabeth Hall. How has performing internationally changed your perspective on Seera’s identity and the global reception of Arabic psychedelic rock?

Meesh: We went into it with zero expectations, unsure if there would be much interest at all. But each show created a connection with people from all kinds of backgrounds. We were amazed by how the crowd interacted with us, even those who didn’t speak the language were engaged. It reminded us that music has the power to cross cultural and language barriers.

Haya: It hasn’t changed our perspective on Seera’s identity and the global reception of Arab psychedelic rock, it reinforced that we are on the right track and that there is an audience for our music and that even people outside our audience are open to exploring our sound.

Thing: We played for different audiences and all reactions proved that Arabic psych-rock isn’t really a niche; people connect to the intensity and the storytelling even if they don’t understand a single word.. the music had to speak for itself, and it did. It made me see Seera’s identity as something sharper and less regionalized, it was more a sound that stands on its own rather than needing explanation.

Nora: Performing internationally really reaffirmed that we’re moving in the right direction. Every city received us differently, but there was always this sense of connection. It gave us a clearer picture of what our global audience actually looks like, which was honestly humbling. Going into our London debut, I feel more grounded in who we are and how far this sound can travel.

4. Your upcoming EP Sarab explores transformation, resilience, and rebirth through sound and Arabic poetry. What personal or cultural stories guided the themes of this project, and how does it build on the world you created in Al Mojallad Al Awal?

Nora: ‘Sarab’ allowed us to explore our sound in a more mature way. It carries the story of overcoming hardship and finding the light at the end of the tunnel. Culturally and personally, those themes are very real to us, so they naturally shaped the poetry, the energy, and the overall sound.I had a lot of joy producing the whole EP and watching each story unfold layer by layer.If Al Mojallad Al Awal was our introduction, you could say Sarab is what happens when that world hits puberty. The story is still there, the essence is still there but this time we took the time to craft it, refine it, and let it grow.

Meesh: We’ve all gone through hardships, and we wanted to reflect a sense of duality in our music, remembering that there’s light within the darkness. You can hear traces of that in Al Mojallad Al Awal, but overall that album carried more confusion and tension, facing reality. ‘Sarab’ is more so making peace with that reality.

Thing: ‘Sarab’ is that exact drift the moment you realize adulthood didn’t make things clearer, it just trained you to hide the blur better. The themes came from watching that childhood sharpness dissolve into routine, doubt, and the illusions we build to survive the weight of knowing too much.It extends the world of Al Mojallad Al Awal by moving from confronting pain to confronting the quiet emptiness that comes after, where truth feels close but never fully lands.

Haya: It still touches on the fundamentals of existentialism. It continues to push our message that with every struggle there is

5. As an all-women psychedelic rock band from Riyadh gaining global attention, you’re often described as “breaking new ground.” How do you balance that cultural responsibility with staying true to your creative instincts and experimentation?

Meesh: We try to stay rooted in what feels honest to us creatively while naturally respecting our culture. We don’t overthink the idea of “breaking new ground”, we just follow what speaks to us, and let the rest happen on its own.

Thing: The responsibility is real, but it shows up in how we work and what we are presenting musically, not in some forced hero narrative. We show up, push ourselves to become musically better, stay honest, and let others see that it’s possible to be out there through hard work. If anything, the impact comes from the fact that we’re unapologetically experimenting and not fitting a mold is the point, and that’s what we hope ends up inspiring others.

Haya: We show up authentically, with an open mind. That helps us stay rooted in our culture while being open to the many waves in the ocean of experimentation.