Following the release of its first two songs, global music platform Humnava releases its third song from Season 1, Qataghani, bringing together musical energies from across the world in one deeply immersive collaboration.
Drawn from the spirit of the ancient Qataghan, Qataghani is a high-octane composition built on adrenaline, movement, and raw collective energy. Recorded at Passu Cones in Gojal, Hunza, the track channels layered tribal rhythms, movement and raw momentum, through a post-modern lens, blending ancestral resonance with a contemporary sonic force that feels both rooted and immediate.
Curated by Xulfi and Sherry Khattak as part of Humnava Season 1, Qataghani brings together an ensemble of musicians across geographies and traditions, featuring vocals by Algerian singer, songwriter, and guitarist Bakrin Timflati, whose music is shaped by travel, landscape, and lived experience, and carries a raw, honest quality rooted in folk rhythm and storytelling. The track also features a powerful collective arrangement by Dorian Jonas Goetsh, Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Ali Habib, Ilhan Karim, Muhammad Hunaid, Blaise Merlin, and Adnan Karim. At its heart is a compelling meeting of Germany’s Dorian and a Hunzai rubab quartet, joined by Blaise Merlin’s exploratory electric violin, chant, percussion, synth bass, and keys to create a rich Central Asian soundscape that echoes across Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and the high mountains of Hunza. Together, Dorian’s EDM instincts, Blaise’s textured violin work, Bakrin’s grounded and expressive vocals, and the force of the Hunzai rubabs create a sound that feels at once regional and global.
“Qataghani has a certain force to it that you don’t really try to control, you surrender to it. It felt physical, instinctive, and alive. What excited me most was how naturally the worlds within it came together, the intensity of the rubabs from Hunza, Dorian’s EDM instincts, the chants, the pulse, the energy of the mountains themselves. It carries something ancient in spirit, but it also feels wild and current in a way that can travel anywhere. That, to me, is also the beauty of Humnava. It is about creating space for traditions, regions, and artists to meet each other honestly and make something new without losing where they come from. Qataghani carries that spirit. It has roots, but it also has movement. It belongs to the mountains, but it also feels like it can travel far beyond them.”
Speaking about the release, Co-Founder and Creative Director Xulfi.
Written by the late Ustad Ghulam Abbas Hassanabadi, Qataghani has been arranged and produced by Xulfi and Dorian Jonas Goetsh. The track is mixed by Xulfi and mastered by Mike Hinton at MSTRD Mastering, London. The accompanying music video has been directed by Soheb Akhtar, with consulting editor-director Xulfi, cinematography by Zain Haleem, post-video production by Mehroz Raza and Hunain Shamim, and grade by Zairi Mohd. Production design is by Aqeel ur Rehman, art direction by Sara Vohra, wardrobe by Fatima Butt, styling by Wajeeha Badar, with Ambiance as hospitality partner and Active Media as on-ground partner.
Co-founded by Xulfi and Muhammad Ibrahim, Humnava is a global music and art platform rooted in Pakistan that brings artists from around the world together through music. Its first season, set in Hunza, brought together over 30 musicians and collaborators from Pakistan and countries including France, Germany, Algeria, and Zambia for an immersive camp built around collaboration, creative exchange, and cultural dialogue.
With Qataghani, Humnava continues to build the world of Season 1, which will further unfold through Holoyor, Sway, Lost in Love, Koi Achi Khabar, Isekta, and Darmaan.
About Humnava
Humnava is a global music and art movement founded by Giraffe, led by producer Zulfiqar Jabbar Khan (Xulfi) and CEO Muhammad Ibrahim. Rooted in collaboration and creative independence, it brings together musicians from Pakistan and around the world to create, connect, and build bridges across people, cultures, and economies. Through original music, films, live experiences, and global distribution, Humnava is creating a new blueprint for cultural exchange and artistic possibility from Pakistan to the world.
