Eliza Shaddad is a Cornwall-based musician and songwriter of Scottish-Sudanese origin. Her work centres around raw, emotive, confessional lyricism, guitar riffs and expansive production. As an independent music artist she has released three EPs and two LPs, championed by tastemakers such as Zane Lowe (Beats 1) and Lauren Laverne (BBC Radio 1) and supported by the likes of The Sunday Times, the Independent, and FADER. Shaddad has toured the UK and Europe with her band, playing at SXSW 2019 in Austin Texas, and playing dates with the likes of Kae Tempest, Oh Wonder, Keane, and Turin Brakes. She has also collaborated with the likes of Grammy-winners’ Clean Bandit, award-winning poet Anthony Anaxagorou, and contemporary jazz group Hansu-Tori.
Eliza is a graduate of Philosophy and Jazz, and during her studies participated in an emboldening movement of students working towards stronger environmental policies and an eco-focused charitable festival in Birmingham. Eliza is a founding member of the female arts collective Girls Girls Girls, which works to empower women within the arts and to raise awareness and funding for the anti-female genital mutilation charity Orchid Project.
In July 2021 Eliza released her new album The Woman You Want via Rosemundy Records/Wow and Flutter – the culmination of a year’s work, made at her home in Cornwall during the pandemic. The album is accompanied by symbolic artwork and four music videos directed by herself and long-time collaborator Jodie Canwell. The artwork takes inspiration from the natural world, longing for Spring, and roaming the Cornish beaches. From her debut single, Waters, Eliza’s work often contemplates our relationship with nature. Eliza also recently participated in environmental projects, Weather – a climate change-focused multimedia opera, and Sea7 – an online Ocean Activist training camp. Having been dismayed by the recent and ongoing events in Darfur, Sudan – and the connections between the migrant crisis and climate change, Eliza, said she, “believes music can be a powerful forum to help communicate the stories of women whose lives have been deeply affected by the climate crisis and environmental change.”