NITIN’S NEW SINGLE ANCESTRAL WITH HAK BAKER IS OUT NOW – LISTEN HERE
WATCH A VIDEO FOR THE SINGLE HERE
THE NEW ALBUM INCLUDES COLLABORATIONS WITH GUY GARVEY, HAK BAKER, JOSS STONE, GARY LINEKER AND MORE
NITIN WILL HEADLINE THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL ON 20 OCTOBER
Nitin Sawhney has today revealed the full details of his new album Identity. The album is released on 13 October and available to pre-order here. The second single from the album Ancestral, featuring Hak Baker is available to listen to now, with an accompanying video. Speaking about the new single, Nitin says:
“Writing this track with Craigie Dodds and Hak was a sublime experience of sitting in a studio with low lighting, Japanese takeaway and copious refills of coffee. Craigie is the only other producer I’ve ever worked with on my own albums and that’s because I have so much respect for him. Hak Baker is an outstanding artist who I listen to on rotation at the moment. When I was in Amsterdam recently, I was impressed by how quickly he was named by three teenagers I was chatting to as their favourite artist. Watching Hak work is a lesson in how to craft pure spontaneous feeling and thought into structured and infectious verbal expression. In paying tribute to the epic journey of his ancestors, Hak never loses sight of his personal truth, humility and respect for those who made him”.
Hak adds:
“With Windrush on the horizon and family tragedy near I just felt in tune with my past and present. It’s all in the name really. I know where we’ve been and I know who I am.”
Nitin’s new single Ancestral is the follow up to the recent single Darling Boy, featuring Guy Garvey, which is currently on the A-list at BBC 6 Music. Other standout tracks on the album include We’re Not Alone with Joss Stone, Illegal featuring legendary England footballer and broadcaster Gary Lineker and voices from Asha Projects, as well as Definition Of Happy with I Am Roze. The full album tracklist is below.
In addition to Nitin’s show tonight at Wigmore Hall which sold out in 24 hours, Nitin has also announced a headline gig at the legendary Royal Albert Hall in London on 20 October. Tickets for the Royal Albert Hall show are on sale here.
Nitin’s Royal Albert Hall gig is the centrepiece of the venue’s Journeys Festival. The festival, which celebrates diverse journeys and identity through music, art and discussion, is curated by Nitin himself, and debuted in 2021 as part of the Hall’s 150th anniversary celebrations. Nitin first performed at the Royal Albert Hall in 2001 and since then he has headlined the BBC Proms, commissioned for the venue’s organ, and staged a special 2019 show marking 20 years of his groundbreaking album, Beyond Skin.
Nitin’s new album Identity is the follow up to his critically acclaimed 2021 album Immigrants which received great support at press ‘A seductive and persuasive look at the lives and human struggles those in power would rather you ignored and disdained. Get connected’ The Wire.
Speaking about the new album, Nitin says:
“The world is littered with opinions of people trying to tell us who we are. People get so vociferous in pushing their judgement and definitions of others that they often forget our common humanity. We’re all human. We all matter… and, as long as you’re not harming anyone else, the only opinion that counts in defining who you are is your own. Identity, the album, is a love letter to who we all are”.
Since the release of the Mercury Prize nominated Beyond Skin in 1999, Nitin has successfully navigated a career in the arts that can only be described as polymathic. Amongst many awards, Nitin holds seven honorary doctorates, two fellowships, an honorary degree, the 2017 Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement Award and a CBE. As a composer Nitin is a BAFTA and Academy member, has scored the music around seventy films and TV series and is the Chair of Trustees for the PRS Foundation, the UK’s leading charitable funder of new music and talent development.
Nitin’s brand-new album Identity is out on 13 October and can be pre-ordered here. His new single Ancestral with Hak Baker is out now.
Identity tracklist:
Faceless Enemies (feat. YVA)
What’s It All About (feat. Jazzi Sirius)
Definition of Happy (feat. I Am Roze)
Darling Boy (feat. Guy Garvey)
Illegal (feat. Gary Lineker & voices from Asha Projects)
Because You’re a Woman (feat. Shapla Salique)
Because You’re a Woman (feat. Shapla Salique)
This Is Our Home (feat. Ayanna Witter-Johnson)
Internal (feat. Aruba Red)
Ancestral (feat. Hak Baker)
Room With A View (feat. Lady Blackbird)
Mirror (feat. Jazzi Sirius)
Nocturnal (feat. Ankita Joshi)
We’re Not Alone (feat. Joss Stone)
Hoo I Am (feat. Spek)
Be Who You Are (feat. Natacha Atlas)
Insaan (Human) (feat. Ankita Joshi)
Fluid (feat. Natty)
