Today, singer, songwriter, and composer Melike Şahin announces her new album AKKOR via Gülbaba Records in partnership with Day Dreamer on November 8. An empowering assertion of survival that propels traditional Anatolian pop and folk influences into the future, AKKOR rises like a phoenix from the flames to reintroduce the Turkish superstar diva to an international audience. Accompanying the announcement is the new single and video “Canın Beni Çekti“ (pronounced ‘Jah-nuhn Beh-nee Chek-tee,’ and translated as ‘Tough Cookie’ in English). Listen / watch “Canın Beni Çekti” HERE and preorder AKKOR HERE.

Deep in the pocket of a sultry disco groove, Şahin flips the male gaze on its head. Challenging an admirer to match her boldness, she sings with the playful flair of classic ‘70s and ‘80s boogie. Reminiscent of NYC divas Asha Puthli or Diana Ross, “Canın Beni Çekti” exemplifies the timelessness of Şahin’s music.

Melike says: “The moment you hear it, this song instantly transports you to a Yeşilçam scene; the golden age of Turkish cinema. It’s a flirty piece where I play with the concept of silent flirtations, like through eye-gazing. It features a woman who says ‘Come up to me if you dare, baby,’ but you already know she is out of reach —you’re aware of her inaccessibility, knowing you can only admire her from afar. With its witty and assertive lyrics, it’s one of my favourite songs of this new era I’m in.”

Watch the official video for “Canın Beni Çekti” here.

Recorded live in London with producer Martin Terefe (London Brew, Buika, Jamie Cullum), AKKOR features a selection of the most talented and forward-thinking musicians on the scene, including guitarists Dave Okumu and violinist Raven Bush, as well as Sterling Campell (David Bowie) on drums, Glen Scott (Eric Bibb) and Nikolaj Torp Larsen on keyboards. Bringing an international feel to her heart-rending performances, the record represents the most focused and complete expression of Şahin’s sound to date.

Having performed around the world with Turkish psych legends BaBa ZuLa, Şahin released her debut album Merhem in 2021, gathering billions of streams and building a reputation for unforgettable live performances. While Merhem was about healing, AKKOR is about survival: personally coming to terms with difficult relationships, childhood trauma, and the pressures of newfound fame, as well as socially continuing to champion the rights of the oppressed in the face of state and media violence.

Powerful and vulnerable, AKKOR demonstrates an orchestral grandeur drawn from traditional Anatolian pop and folk music, injected with the urgency of contemporary production. Bound together by Şahin’s inimitable voice, AKKOR skips between Middle Eastern melancholy and classic disco hedonism, for an album that is as stylistically open, pluralistic, and affirmative as the messages the music carries.

Şahin has made a career of facing down criticism and censorship of her progressive creativity: an expression of Şahin’s personal growth, AKKOR is an affirmation of her growing status as the voice of a generation, and whose lyrics have been adopted as a call to rights for the women’s movement in Turkey. Although she does not describe herself as an activist, Şahin’s poignant lyrics have come to define the women’s movement in Turkey, with the words, “I deserve each and every inch of this smile,” adorning protest banners on International Women’s Day and celebratory posters at Pride.

“This is the moment that I told myself, Yes, I am an artist,” Şahin says. “I am bearing all of the other things because of this, because I am affecting people’s lives, and I am giving some power.” AKKOR – which translates as candescent –  finds Melike rising again and burning brighter than ever before.

AKKOR is Şahin’s rebirth album – a statement of self-empowerment, through which she hopes to continue to raise up the voices of those around her. “You are seeing a woman who falls down, but who rises again and flies,” she explains. “Maybe she doesn’t win, maybe she doesn’t lose, but she’s a survivor,” Şahin concludes. “She is a phoenix.”

Read Melike Şahin’s full bio here.