Nick Hakim seems due to really, properly blow up, and a brilliant new album might get him there. The Queens-based musician always pops up in fascinating places — in the past few year's he's had credits on albums by Adrianne Lenker, Pink Siifu, Eddie Chacon, Lil Yachty, and Zooey Celeste — and his own catalog is aging beautifully. But I don't know if he's ever shined quite as brightly as he does on the pair of singles he released today.
The spectral soul tracks "Real Here Now" and "Water" present Hakim in continuum with the greats. "Real Here Now" floats along through grief and memory. Hakim's vocals quiver in midair over glassy piano and a crisp backbeat, gliding from whispers to fiery moments that remind me of Michael Jackson. Those keyboard squeals are Boyz II Men-worthy, but the production is way more otherworldly than the comparison suggests. Meanwhile, "Water" is mostly just Hakim, a piano, and a bottomless well of heartbreak. He sounds like Sampha's ghost, or maybe just a man haunted by ghosts of his own.
Both songs are spectacular, and they portend great things for whatever larger project Hakim might have in store. Listen below.
"Real Here Now" and "Water" are out now on Earseed/Stem.
