Early life
Sevdaliza was born Sevda Alizadeh on 1 September 1987 in Tehran, Iran. She moved with her family to the Netherlands at the age of five. At 16, she left home as a result of a basketball scholarship, eventually playing on the Dutch national basketball team. She went to university, graduating with a master's degree in communications. Sevdaliza is fluent in Persian, Dutch, English, French, and Portuguese.
2013–present: The Suspended Kid, Children of Silk and ISON
In March 2014, Sevdaliza released her debut single "Clear Air" along with a music video. It was later followed by "Sirens of the Caspian" and "Backseat Love". On January 2015, The Suspended Kid, her debut extended play (EP) was released, which she had worked on for over a year and half. The title of the EP is about how people responded to Sevdaliza in social situations, saying "I realized that those things that deflect me from social situations — not getting along with your coach or your boss or whatever — it made me realize I had to choose a different path." The Suspended Kid was produced by Sevdaliza and Rotterdam-based producer and frequent collaborator, Mucky. In September, a music video for the last remaining track on the EP, the industrial R&B "That Other Girl", was released. On 19 June 2015, she released "Marilyn Monroe", which served as the lead single off her second EP, Children of Silk. The song has been characterized as trip hop and was accompanied by a music video which was released on March 30, 2016. Children of Silk was released on 24 November 2015. Sevdaliza cited textures such as skin, glass, and silk as the main inspiration behind the EP. In May 2016, a short film by Sevdaliza, The Formula was released. The film is about "the pain of losing an unborn child destroyed balance in marriage and leads to tragedy." Directed by Emmanuel Adjei and co-directed and produced by Sevdaliza, the film features three songs by Sevdaliza, including "The Language of Limbo" from ISON. In October 2016, a new single entitled "Time" was released. In the following month, another single entitled "Human" was released along with a music video. "Human", "Marilyn Monroe", and "The Language of Limbo" would later be featured on ISON.
In January 2017, she released her first track sung in Persian, "Bebin". It was released in protest of Executive Order 13769, she stated: "In protest of the inhumane political climate, I could not rest my head in privilege. I wrote "Bebin" in Farsi, to solidify. I stand strong with love. In this case I choose to avoid mainstream media, because I have no interest in part taking in a victimized concept. Take this message without lights, camera, action. I am solely a messenger. In the brain of love, there is no place for racism nor bigotry." In February, a music video was released for "Amandine Insensible". Amandine is an alter-ego of Sevdaliza, a woman so submerged in her fantasies who is not able to care about anything else around her anymore. The video showcases the limited roles women are expected to fill in modern culture. Sevdaliza stated: "The story of Amandine explores the concept of 'identity' in a contemporary world that is rapidly changing due to the disappearance of 'boundaries'. Amandine is everything you want her to be. An extreme extraction of average life, representing a world where we have become so universal all feelings have disappeared. Paradoxically, this makes you feel uncomfortable. Her life takes place in an infinite white space, composed with minimal objects that represent different facets of the cycle of daily life. The accessibility of information and matter has created a new universal language, in which commercial brands play a key role." In April, "Hero" was released as the last single before the release of her debut studio album, ISON. ISON was released on 26 April 2017, and is named after Comet ISON, a sungrazing comet.
