Nick Hakim will release his new album Will This Make Me Good on May 15th via ATO Records. Today, Hakim has given fans a taste of the LP with a new video for “Qadir.” The track, is the first song he wrote for the record, made as an ode to his late friend and a reminder to check in on your loved ones. “If I really sink into a recording, I don’t want it to end,” Hakim says. “[‘QADIR’] is repetitive and hypnotizing, like a trance — that’s intentional. The song is my ode to him. It’s my attempt to relate to how he must have been feeling.”

“I feel the people simmering, on our way to the boiling point. There’s a lot of madness going on around us and this world can feel so cold. It can get hard to remember what makes it worth it. The people around me and the music I love helps.

For a while, I couldn’t write. I worked on new music but couldn’t find the right words. But that time was just a build-up to the three months of expression that led to this album. I hope this music will raise awareness about where we are right now. About how we are living on this planet. About how we treat our neighbors. About community. About depression. About what can heal us and what can’t. About overmedication, overstimulation and manipulation. About respecting and loving the people around us, because one day they won’t be here-or you won’t.

But it’s also true that I’m still trying to figure this record out. People have told me that it’s confusing or that it’s messy-that’s fine. There’s so much pressure on artists to commit to being one thing, or to restrict an album to exploring just one subject or sound. But my life isn’t like that, and so my music can’t be like that either. I’m not thinking about this music as a product to be bought and sold, or how I’ll buy your interest. This is my world; a lot of friends touched this record, and that makes me feel lucky and proud. These songs are glimpses into my community. I’m exploring, but I’m not alone. It’s a journey in progress; it’s an experiment, every day.”

Nick Hakim
Will This Make Me Good
ATO Records
May 15, 2020

1. ALL THESE CHANGES
2. WTMMG
3. BOUNCING
4. LET IT OUT
5. QADIR
6. ALL THESE INSTRUMENTS
7. DRUM THING
8. VINCENT TYLER
9. CRUMPY
10. GODS DIRTY WORK
11. SEEING DOUBLE
12. WHOO