Nabihah Iqbal will return with a new album on Ninja Tune.

DREAMER, a 10-track album, lands five years on since the London-born artist’s debut, Weighing Of The Heart. We’re told to expect her “rawest and most reflective work to date.”

The record sees Iqbal reflect on her experiences during the early months of 2020, when her studio was burgled. All her work was lost, including the album she was working on. While the forensic police looked for fingerprints in her studio, she received a call from her grandmother telling her that her grandfather had suffered a brain haemorrhage. Iqbal got on a plane to Karachi, Pakistan the next day.

“Going to Pakistan turned into a blessing in disguise,” she says. “It affected my perspective on music. At the time, being forcefully removed from the whole scenario of the burglary felt frustrating, but it was the best thing that could have happened.” She spent those months remembering why she made music in the first place. She went back to basics and bought an acoustic guitar and a harmonium.

Back in the UK, she embarked on residencies in Scotland and Suffolk to finish the album where she switched off from the internet, discovering “all my emotions and feelings.”

We’re told that the album is “more introspective,” because it’s about things Iqbal has been through over the last few years. Conceptually, it delivers snapshots and memories of her life, “exploring personal identity and grief through the soft-focus lens of melancholy.”

“For the first time ever, I’ve made music where I’ve been more patient with it,” Iqbal says. “Normally, when you’re an electronic music producer, you go into the studio, switch your computer on, and start working on Ableton or Logic and then build up from that. Whereas I decided not to go near all that for ages, and I was also forced into this approach in a way, because of the studio burglary and then being in Pakistan, away from all my equipment. Instead, I had to let the ideas develop in my head.”

Alongside today’s announcement, Iqbal has shared her shoegaze-inspired single “This World Couldn’t See Us,” which is the first track to be released from the album.

Tracklisting

01. In Light
02. Dreamer
03. This World Couldn’t See Us
04. Sunflower
05. Lilac Twilight
06. Gentle Heart
07. Sky River
08. Sweet Emotion (lost in devotion)
09. A Tender Victory
10. Closer Lover

DREAMER LP is scheduled for April 23 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “This World Couldn’t See Us” in full via the player below and pre-order here.