After the success of his two breakthrough EPs, Brooklyn-based neo-soul singer Nick Hakim holed himself up in his bedroom and began cranking out the intimate songs that will appear on his debut album Green Twins. Hakim just announced that the project will drop on May 19 via ATO Records and in anticipation of its release, he’s given us the first track, “Bet She Looks Like You.”
The song has all the vulnerability and emotion we’ve come to expect from Hakim, but it boasts an added layer of maturity. His voice reaches rich new heights here (literally — that falsetto is a stunning moment) and rings out dripping with melancholy and longing. The lyrics reflect a confessional and personal approach that Hakim is playing with on the album.
“A lot of it is what I was thinking in the moment, very specific songs…many of them are like self-portraits,” he said of Green Twins. “I also felt the need to push my creativity in a different way than I had on the EPs.”
Hakim, who’s originally from Washington, D.C., shared that Green Twins came together after he moved from Boston to Brooklyn and spent time fleshing out sketches for songs, writing lyrics, and recording voice memos on a four-track recorder. He took the demos to studios in Philadelphia, London, and New York City, where he played around with R&B, rock, and experimental melodies and production.
“We wanted to imagine what it would have sounded like if RZA had produced a Portishead album. We experimented with engineering techniques from Phil Spector and Al Green’s Back Up Train, drum programming from RZA and Outkast, and were listening to a lot of The Impressions, John Lennon, Wu-Tang, Madlib and Screaming Jay Hawkins,” he said in a press release.
We already hear a bit of the approach on the new single, and we’re into it. Following the release of Green Twins, Hakim will launch a U.S.-Europe tour. Check out the dates below.
NICK HAKIM TOUR DATES
Feb 13 – The Lexington – London, UK – SOLD OUT
Feb 23 – Milk Boy – Philadelphia, PA
Feb 24 – Blue Note – New York, NY
Feb 25 – Songbyrd – Washington, DC
Mar 03 – Monty Hall – Jersey City, NJ
Mar 04 – Union Pool – Brooklyn, NY
Mar 08 – El Club – Detroit, MI
Mar 09 – Schubas – Tavern Chicago, IL
Mar 10 – Blueberry Hill – St. Louis, MO
Mar 11 – Proud Larry’s – Oxford, MS
Mar 13 – Gasa Gasa – New Orleans, LA
Mar 14 – White Oak Music Hall Upstairs – Houston, TX
Mar 19 – Valley Bar – Phoenix, AZ
Mar 21 – Voila! Gallery – Los Angeles, CA
Mar 22 – Brick & Mortar – San Francisco, CA
Mar 24 – Doug Fir Lounge – Portland, OR
Mar 25 – Alexander Gastown – Vancouver, BC
Mar 26 – Barboza – Seattle, WA
Mar 29 – 7th Street Entry – Minneapolis, MN
Mar 30 – The Back Room – Milwaukee, WI
Mar 31 – Hi-Fi – Indianapolis, IN
Apr 01 – Club Café – Pittsburgh, PA
Apr 19 – The Dome – London, UK
Apr 20 – Le Pop Up du Label – Paris, FR
Apr 22 – Studio 672 – Cologne, DE
Apr 23 – Bitterzoet – Amsterdam, NL
Apr 25 – Berghain Kantine – Berlin, DE