Los Angeles-based Opium Moon won a Grammy for their self-titled debut, and they return with La La Lai, a celebratory new song just in time for the Persian Nowruz (New Year) holiday — and a tantalizing taste of their forthcoming sophomore album, their first with Six Degrees Music Distribution. The full album project, DAY + NIGHT, is due for release this summer.

Hamid Saeidi says, “I have chosen this song for Nowruz because our lives have been forcefully changed, our paths and routines so drastically that we had to adapt to this new and isolated lifestyle. Hence, our energies have been condensed during these hard times, confined within our four walls waiting for redemption — to finally be able to enjoy life, music, and dance again. ‘La La Lai’ reaches deep down to that part of ourselves to reaffirm, ‘Yes! We are ready to connect and be joyful together once again!’ Let’s start again — and with what better than this happy tune.”

La La Lai is in part a collaboration with the Istanbul-based Kurdish group Miraz Ensemble. Lili Haydn comments, “We met Miraz on Facebook last year, right after Turkey bombed the Kurdish people, and we fell in love with each other‘s sounds. We were excited to collaborate in the spirit of love and peace, the central mission for both of our ensembles, and felt that ‘La La Lai’ was the perfect uplifting, danceable song on which to connect!”

The band are a global intersection of powerhouse talent who work with spontaneity and intuition to create elegant, captivating music that evokes an ancient past while sounding fresh and contemporary.