A shadowy, guitar-led cut that pulls pre-revolutionary Iranian psychedelia into present-day Los Angeles, SHĀHERI’s “BANDITĀ” pushes 1970s Persian psychedelic funk through modern LA surf guitar. The single, whose live rendition was filmed during their performance for Petit Ermitage’s New Year’s Eve Soirée, appears on PERSIĀDELICĀ, the eight-track debut EP released on 12 December 2025, and stands out as one of its most sharply defined pieces.

SHĀHERI is the recording and performance identity of Jonathan Shaheri, an Emmy Award–winning composer and multi-instrumentalist born and raised in Los Angeles to Iranian parents who immigrated to the United States in the 1970s. Raised in an Iranian household shaped by 1970s exile and record-collecting, he draws directly on pre-revolutionary artists including Kourosh Yaghmaei and Googoosh, reframing those sounds through a first-generation American perspective that folds in West Coast guitar work and a clear sense of cinema. His wider credits as a composer include collaborations with Hans Zimmer and Steve McKay.

“BANDITĀ” combines funk rhythms and psychedelic guitar with what Shaheri describes as a noir-leaning tone, using vintage-voiced guitars and tight rhythmic figures to keep the track concentrated and direct. It follows earlier singles “DOKHTAR SHEKAR” and “TARIĀK” from PERSIĀDELICĀ, and arrives after a breakout year of sold-out headline shows across California and a steep surge in online listeners. Further North American and European headline dates are scheduled for spring and summer 2026.