Next on the rotation for fans of budding rock heroines is Nadia Kazmi‘s fatalist ‘Have You Here’. The Brooklyn-based indie artist has drawn on the textures and styles of the 70s for a dose of the suitably dramatic, which is designed to transport the listener into bittersweet moments of nostalgia for a past love.
Before we get into the rest of this invigorating track, let’s hear from Kazmi about the origins of her new single:
“The inspiration was about first loves or people you still think about years later but it’s not really supposed to be a sad song, just nostalgic. I think everyone has a person or a couple of people they remember fondly or think “what if” about but in reality, those things were meant to fade away and leave you with memories that get better and better with time (a bit of selective memory) I imagine the days when groups of 40 friends would go up camping or on crazy road trips, everyone was falling in and out of love but some of those loves lasted longer.”
With that, let’s get back to the track. From the very start, Kazmi is skilled at building anticipation, with the creeping synth and bold, separated guitar strokes that theatrically set the scene. After that, we’re guided through this sentimental soundscape with a marching rhythm that are complimented by splashes of tambourine. The percussion sidles up alongside the evocative Elton John-esque piano and commanding Blondie-style melodies. Even the guitars have that fuzzy-yet-metallic quality that’s often lost these day, yet are essential in creating a sense of new wave innovation. If all this sonic energy wasn’t enough to bring you up to Kazmi‘s level, then she’s there to jolt to life with her rock’n’roll shouts, for example “you’re my everything! my everything!” during the song’s vivacious outro.
We recommend saving ‘Have You Here’ for future bouts of emotional excess, or you could even return to our Indie Rockers playlist to find it.
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