Kamal., North-west London singer, releases new heart-wrenching single “Essential”. “Essential” is about the end of a strong relationship that was felt to be essential and has a sentimental undertone typical of Kamal.
The song’s lyrics explore the emotions that follow a breakup, a period of reflection, and embracing freedom from the co-dependence of a relationship that can end up controlling your entire life. The music video for “Essential” depicts Kamal.’s final 24 hours on earth, with chaos roiling his surroundings as he watches and argues who he will spend his final hours with.
The new track only gives us a glimpse of what to expect from Kamal.’s eagerly awaited second EP, “So here you are, drowning,” that will be released on March 17th. The EP is the result of nearly two years of composing and portraying the unusual experience of striving to stay afloat, with the title and artwork matching the water symbolism that pervades the first mixtape.
Kamal. has dedicated himself to a life in the studio since the end of 2021, when he published his long-awaited first EP, bolstering his already outstanding music catalog at such a young age with “essential,” following in the footsteps of prior works including the fan favorite “homebody” and the Top-40 hit “Mercury,” where he collaborated with Brit Award-winning rapper Dave.
Fans will remember the song “homebody,” which addressed isolation and seclusion and was written during Kamal’s holiday break. This emotion was all too familiar during the global shutdown in March 2020. His following single, “Blue,” had similar global popularity, with award-winning teen starlet Billie Eilish placing it at number one during her takeover of Spotify’s Lorem playlist.
In the past, Kamal managed to strike an incredible balance between studying and making music; however, now that he has officially graduated from school, he is free to devote all of his time to recording and is preparing for a year of new releases. Kamal’s destiny was to become a musician. A talented pianist, Maxwell, D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, and Bill Withers were among his earliest musical influences.
He started by composing tracks for his ukulele as he developed his own music, and in 2019, he posted his first recorded song, “smilingdownthephone,” on Soundcloud. He hasn’t looked back since, earning sponsorships from publications like NME, British GQ, British Vogue, i-D, Dazed, and others.
