Nick Hakim
Cometa
ATO
ABOVE THE CURRENT
Forever in the realms of alt-soul and the vulnerably lyrical, singer-songwriter and DC native Nick Hakim has been a master of the genre—a soft-spoken, raw-silken, baby-making, ballad-shaking sort à la Helado Negro, an artist who comes off with a warm vintage vibe rather than a retro one. Bringing up Helado’s music makes for a good point, as Hakim’s messy, clattering new album Cometa—titled for a kite in Spanish—works that artist’s vibe a little harder and sounds a little happier this time, only with a psychedelic R&B Isley Bros.–like romanticism that makes for some unctuous up-close-and-personal and highly melodic movement.
More overjoyed than his usual sad-eyed persona (“Can’t tell if it’s me or the room that’s moving,” he sings on “Vertigo”), Cometa rings out righteously in the name of refreshed contentment, of noise, of love lived to its fullest. In fact it’s also musically quite a bit removed from the sleek and clean sound we know him for, aided as it is by grouchy, tangled guitars (courtesy of Arto Lindsay), lo-fied mumbling rhythms, and Hakim’s choice vocals tangled up in blue sing-speak as they are on “Perfume” and opener “Ani.”
But that’s the point of putting an emphasis on heartier songwriting, earnest love talk, and dissonance rather than chic production and vibe. You get moments like the frank-as-fuck “Feeling Myself,” the (no joke) dizzying “Vertigo,” and the rapturous R&B of “Happen,” all with the help of guests such as Lindsay, Helado himself, new lo-fi brother in arms Alex G, and DJ Dahl.
Perhaps welcoming a diverse cast of collaborators opened Hakim and tracks such as “Market” and “Slid Under” to funky, clunky new heights—I don’t know, I wasn’t there—but something brought Hakim down in sleek soul sound levels and up in the crunchy romance quotient. Highly diggable and dirty stuff is Cometa. Fly that kite high.
