FEATURE: NYC Singer-songwriter Abby Ahmad Discusses Her New Album ‘Tea With Shadows’

Musician, songwriter, and actress Abby Ahmad released her new album Tea With Shadows last week. With some tracks reaching back to almost a decade ago, the album came together over the past few years as Ahmad and her partner in music and in life, Mark Marshall balanced teaching, touring, and recording. While the pair have been based in New York City for over ten years, Tea With Shadows was a somewhat nomadic process, as Ahmad returned to her childhood home of rural Pennsylvania and her late grandparents’ home for most of the recording stages. Immersing herself in her past and history – a process she calls “greenhousing” – Ahmad brought back with her the narratives and natural spirit of her surroundings for a collection of experimental folk songs, blending poetry with wordplay and percussive melodies. “I laid down half the album’s tracks surrounded by nature, cultivating ideas like seeds, and giving them room to properly grow”, she shares. “[It] needed time and the right space to germinate and, in turn, asks listeners to spend time — with the lyrics, the sonic textures, and emotions unearthed by the earnest content explored in this diverse range of tracks.”

Giving listeners a strong sense of her symbiotic relationship between her voice and her guitar, the album opens with the psych-folk tune “Find Out”, before flipping into the blues-tinged “Bully”, seeing both provide a strumming rhythm as a foundation for Ahmad’s striking vocal style. “Counterfeit” and “The Count” highlight Ahmad’s guitar abilities, with her quick picking rhythms and cyclical style. Following close behind is her lyricism as she explores the personal, yet universal struggles with vulnerability, fears, anxiety, and perception across the record with a poetic and captivating presence.

As the album encroaches on its final moments, Ahmad continues her striking, delicate songwriting with “Nice Try” and second half stand-out “Say You Believe” – the latter an exploration of empathy, a relevant and inviting song that fits well into a world with continual crises at hand. She considers herself a believer and urges listeners to believe in the capacity for understanding ourselves and one another. And as the album opened with the tamed warmness of “Find Out”, it comes around to the lullaby-esque title track “Tea With Shadows”, as Ahamd quietly sings an encouraging and empowering poem of facing your fears.

Continue below to learn more about Abby Ahmad and her recording process, and stream the full album just past.

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Q: What was the recording process like moving between locations? 

Recording this album was an evolution over time. My husband/musical partner Mark Marshall and I started recording demos for some of these songs 10 years ago. We spent several years touring with other artists and doing a lot of private teaching to financially sustain ourselves. It was hard to prioritize the inconsistent time we had at home together to record when we just wanted to enjoy life. We did the first batches of real recording upon house/dog-sitting for my parents in Pennsylvania when they went on a trip. We loaded our home studio into the car and set up for a week there. Recording in my childhood bedroom was a nostalgic and deeply connected experience. It really aligned me with the origins of many of my emotional patterns, which is the overlying arc of the record. We made subsequent trips back to PA over that year and got basic tracking done for about half the album.

During that time, we also did a session at my recently passed grandparents’ home. My family was in the process of selling it, and I felt that I needed the catharsis of recording in the space that had meant so much to me. However, unidentified spirits in the vacant house interfered technically with a lot of the recording, so usable material from that session ended up being minimal. Being in quarantine for the past year+ was really what allowed us to finally complete this work. In our apartment in Brooklyn, we were on a steady schedule for the first time in our lives. That focus and consistency proved to be incredibly grounding for us in an extremely destabilizing time. 

Q: How did each location inspire your songwriting? 

AA: Nearly all of the songs on the album had been written before recording began. The only exception was the song, “Say You Believe”. I wrote this song in the height of the pandemic, amidst protests for social justice, wildfires raging in California, and abhorrent decisions being made by our then-president and government. In NYC, there were nightly noise-making sessions at 7pm in honor of health care workers. Everyone would clap, hoot, and bang pots and pans out their window. We had our bongos out of their usual storage area for this purpose.

One day, I was playing around and started beating a pattern on the bongos with my right hand while playing piano chords with my left. Very organically, this song was birthed. I had yet to find an outlet to express my emotions and anxiety around these many ongoing factors. However, in the midst of all the fear and ugliness, I was seeing examples of kindness and care exhibited in my neighborhood on a daily basis. True showcases of empathy and loving energy. It was beyond inspiring. This song is a reminder that even in the deepest darkness, hope, love, and resiliency exist. 

Q: How has your acting career influenced your music? 

AA: I have always been drawn to character/multi-character roles. I love the challenge of expressing through a diverse range of perspectives. The variation is demanding and exhilarating. I have always loved one-act play collections, as well. I was introduced to David Ives’ All in the Timing as an adolescent and became obsessed. It was thrilling that both actors and audience could be completely immersed in the specifics of a situation and then be onto the next world in seemingly a moment. (That very much satisfied the attention deficit in me, ha!). But also, seeing how these disparate stories had connective tissue that bound them was key. Tea with Shadows is very much of that same nature. The songs on this album are vignettes. Divergent in genre and mood, but all belonging under the same umbrella. 

My experience in theatre has also significantly shaped me as a vocalist. The understanding of my body and instrument and how to make sounds that are shocking and soothing and everything in between and do it safely was a journey that developed with my work on the stage. I had to confront habits that were deteriorating my stamina and limiting my expression. Also, learning how to authentically convey someone else’s words and vision has sharpened the ability to do the same in my own work. 

Q: With such a wide range of musical influences, how do you decide which direction to head with a song? 

AA: Composition-wise, I rarely pre-determine the direction a song will take. I start with a nugget of an idea, almost always on an instrument, and allow the concept to grow and shape. From there, I’ll improvise words or gibberish on top of it to get a feel for the rhythmic flow. I make numerous recordings on my phone and almost act as translator upon playback, finding rhymes and meaning amidst the improvisation. It’s very much creative channeling. I make space for the materials to emerge. Then, I’ll chisel and detail once the foundations have been laid. After the song is fully written, I can identify more clearly where to head in terms of production.

From that standpoint, Mark and I work instinctively, trying out concepts that will support the bones of the composition. We will often reference other artists’ songs or style to use as inspiration. Sometimes, it will be other art forms or not even art at all. For example, on the track “Belly & Heart” I researched audio/transcripts from the Columbia space disaster and also made reference to my favorite show of all time, The Twilight Zone. We play both in and outside the box.

Q: Where does this album fit amongst your previous albums? 

AA: The process of recording this album was wholly different from my past two. Both The Rearview and Curriculum were created in commercial studios with many guest musicians contributing. The whole of this record was done solely by myself and Mark, with just a few friends lending vocals or an instrument.  The period of time devoted to it also lent itself to a real investment in sound. We had the luxury of time doing it at home, no pressure to “get the take” for the sake of logistics or finances. That was freeing. However, there are challenges to recording in the place you also reside: Having to stop flow for the purr of the boiler or a neighbor’s dog. Feeling distracted doing intimate vocals as I looked at the pile of laundry in the corner.

But ultimately, I feel this is my most fully realized production to date. And yet the rudiments of my prior albums still remain intact. My work has always been a little chewy. I like a deep dive, both lyrically and sonically. My songs are created with a genuine sense of connection and truth, but are quite layered and encourage repeat listens to gather all the easter eggs. I take pride in having a singular artistic voice, even if that voice needs repeating to be fully understood.