Charlotte de Witte is exploring the intersection of techno, artificial intelligence and cultural resistance with Azadi, a new three track EP created in collaboration with AI singer NAVA.
Released on November 5 through KNTXT, the project features three original tracks, “Azadi,” “Omid” and “Tales of the Desert,” combining Charlotte de Witte’s techno production with Farsi vocals performed through NAVA, a digital artist created by London based Iranian artist Farbod Mehr.
Beyond its technological dimension, Azadi carries a clear social purpose. All proceeds from the EP will be donated to Femena, an organisation supporting women’s rights, feminist movements and human rights defenders across Iran and the wider MENA and Asian regions.
The project arrives at a moment when artificial intelligence is generating intense debate across the music industry. Rather than positioning AI simply as a production shortcut, Azadi uses a synthetic voice to explore questions of cultural identity, artistic expression and who is permitted to be heard.
NAVA Gives Persian Heritage a Digital Voice
NAVA is an AI generated singer conceived by Farbod Mehr as a contemporary expression of Persian culture.
Her visual identity draws inspiration from classical Iranian art, while her voice reinterprets elements of Persian folk tradition for a digital audience.
The project has already attracted millions of listeners online, with NAVA also appearing in holographic form.
For Azadi, that digital identity carries particular significance.
Charlotte de Witte explained that she discovered NAVA after a friend shared the project and its story with her.
I was captivated by the message she was spreading: an expression of hope that sacrifice will lead to a better future.
That discovery eventually developed into three collaborative tracks.
Charlotte de Witte has described the release as an opportunity to amplify stories belonging to people whose voices can be restricted or suppressed.
“Azadi” Means Freedom
The EP takes its title from the Farsi word for freedom.
“Azadi” has already appeared in Charlotte de Witte’s live sets, bringing the project into the physical environment of the dancefloor before its official release.
Musically, the title track combines a dark techno framework with acid textures, rapid percussion and atmospheric effects. NAVA’s melodic voice emerges through the breakdowns, creating a contrast between Charlotte de Witte’s driving production and the more spacious vocal passages.
The second track, “Omid,” meaning hope, moves into more urgent territory.
Fast bass movement, sharp electronic stabs and a compact repeating riff provide the foundation for layered Farsi vocals. The track uses repetition to build tension while maintaining the direct rhythmic pressure associated with Charlotte de Witte’s club productions.
“Tales of the Desert” takes a different direction.
Rather than relying heavily on a conventional build and drop structure, the track develops through atmospheric sections, slow acid movements, textured percussion, mysterious synthesis and elevated vocal passages.
Together, the three compositions approach the collaboration from different angles while maintaining a common conceptual thread built around freedom, hope and cultural memory.
Artificial Intelligence as a Form of Resistance
The use of an AI singer gives Azadi another layer beyond its musical construction.
Charlotte de Witte has connected NAVA directly with the restrictions faced by Iranian women who are prevented from freely performing in public.
Unlike others, NAVA cannot get arrested for using her voice.
Charlotte de Witte described the tracks as a small act of resistance and a reminder that people who are silenced, displaced or oppressed still have stories that deserve to be heard.
Within that context, the synthetic nature of NAVA becomes central to the concept.
The technology creates a voice that cannot be physically detained, while the human ideas behind that voice remain rooted in experiences of culture, restriction and identity.
It presents a different perspective on AI music at a time when much of the wider discussion surrounding generative technology has focused on copyright, ownership, training data and the potential replacement of human artists.
In Azadi, the technology instead functions as a vessel for a project conceived and directed by human creators.
Farbod Mehr Connects Technology With Persian Culture
Behind NAVA is Farbod Mehr, an Iranian born artist whose work moves between architecture, visual culture and artificial intelligence.
Farbod Mehr is the founder of AI visual studio V Generate and studied architecture at Central Saint Martins in London.
His wider creative work has appeared in collections associated with institutions including Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Bonhams and the Aga Khan Museum. Farbod Mehr has also contributed to research with Google DeepMind examining generative artificial intelligence and cultural creativity.
For NAVA, Farbod Mehr has focused on using digital technology as a means of carrying elements of Persian heritage toward a new generation.
A Persian verse sits at the conceptual centre of the collaboration:
Within despair lies so much hope; the darkest night must end in dawn.
According to Farbod Mehr, working with Charlotte de Witte gave that cultural heritage a new rhythmic form, with Azadi transforming an old expression of hope into something designed for the present.
Supporting Femena
The charitable dimension of the release is essential to the project rather than an addition to it.
Every cent of proceeds generated by Azadi will go to Femena, which works to advance women’s rights and gender equality while supporting feminist organising and human rights defenders.
Its work includes communities affected by conflict, political pressure and crisis, connecting the themes expressed through NAVA with practical support for people working on the ground.
By directing the EP’s proceeds toward Femena, Charlotte de Witte and Farbod Mehr connect the symbolic message of the music with a tangible contribution.
A Different Conversation About AI and Electronic Music
Electronic music has always maintained an unusually close relationship with technology.
Synthesizers, drum machines, samplers, computers and software have repeatedly changed how the music is created, performed and understood.
Artificial intelligence represents another technological shift, but one carrying particularly complicated questions about authorship and creativity.
Azadi does not resolve those debates, nor does it need to.
Instead, the EP presents one specific way in which artificial intelligence can become part of a broader artistic concept.
NAVA may be digitally constructed, but the cultural references, political context, musical production and intentions surrounding the project originate with human creators.
For Charlotte de Witte, whose work has long been associated with the physical intensity of techno, the collaboration opens an unusual contrast. A voice without a physical body enters music designed for bodies moving together on a dancefloor.
Through “Azadi,” “Omid” and “Tales of the Desert,” that contrast becomes part of the message itself.
Technology provides the voice, techno provides the pulse, and behind both sits a distinctly human demand for freedom and the right to be heard.
📸 : Cover Photo / Courtesy of Charlotte de Witte and NAVA
📸 : Additional Photo Credits / Charlotte de Witte and NAVA
