{"id":1945225,"date":"2026-05-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1945225"},"modified":"2026-05-20T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T21:00:00","slug":"wonderland-188","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1945225","title":{"rendered":"Wonderland"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\tWonderland<\/span>
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\n\t\t\tKAMAL. IS DIALLING IT DOWN\u00a0<\/span>
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He\u2019s embraced pop maximalism, rode the wave of cosigns and trialled the \u201cstar\u201d thing. Now, Harlesden-hailing singer-songwriter Kamal. is in search of a rawer, truer sound, with a story that is gradually unfolding \u2013 and everyone\u2019s leaning in.
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\"Kamal.<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

City gloom, wobbly Spring weather and a tense socio-political climate. But somewhere amidst the bleak and ominous, North-West London\u2019s Kamal. is finding glimmers of light and making magic out of it. With his second studio album, how the fuck does everybody else manage?<\/em> out 17th July, he resurfaced from drowning, and ready to dive into the deep end of his inner world order. And in an attempt to make that plunge easier, he\u2019s stripping back a few layers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been almost a decade since he was signed to Neighbourhood Recordings in 2017 \u2013 \u201cCrazy thing to say, by the way,\u201d he laughs \u2013 a roster that includes artists like Mercury Prize winner, Dave<\/a>, who he\u2019s previously collaborated with on \u201cMercury\u201d, singer-songwriter and producer Humble The Great, and masked Mancunian rapper Meekz. And since establishing himself as a distinguishing voice in London\u2019s bustling market, particularly with the 2023 release of his reflective yet charming debut album, so here you are, drowning<\/em>, he has begun mapping out his niche in the interior of British pop. Oftentimes, starting these with simply a few chords, an instrumental and a question.<\/p>\n

And this is something he\u2019s always done. My first meeting with Kamal arrived as teenagers; myself, 15 years old, and him a year younger. We\u2019d spent a year of our youth in overlapping circles, just before he began his starry ascent to the Brit School, still studying at a high school a 10-minute bus ride from Wembley Stadium. My most consistent memory of him, besides his wit and humour, was how he\u2019d, whether he really wanted an answer or not, persistently ask \u2013 \u2018Why?\u2019. In the moment, it may have bordered on annoying, but now, in hindsight, it nurtured the soil of what his creative vision would quickly sprout into.<\/p>\n

When asked where that inquisitive nature came from, he\u2019s quick to divulge: \u201cVirginia Woolf. I\u2019m reading a few of her short stories \u2013 she\u2019s one of my favourite authors.\u201d His affinity to the modernist writer lies not just in her literary style, but also in her world perspective. \u201cHer philosophy and way of writing are so all-encompassing and involve all the facets of life that I think are interesting,\u201d he says. Worlds away from the young man I teen\u2019d with, gallivanting the streets from Alperton station to Embankment, he\u2019s more assured. As is his curiosity, his fluidity through life and his embracing of the present, similarly to Woolf. \u201cIt makes it all seem equal in a way that I find really appealing and honest.\u201d So, with Woolf as one of his literary (and life) north stars, he\u2019s committed to the same cause \u2013 with his music as a whole, and this record especially.<\/p>\n

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\"Kamal.<\/figure>\n
\"Kamal.<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n

Out today on 20th July, \u201csuffer\u201d, the third single released, lays it all out on the table to the tune of a pacey, reverberating electric guitar buzz. It\u2019s a love song where his soft vocals oscillate between a glitter and a grunt as he pens losing himself in his lover, clasping love in a world where loneliness is ever more the default. They\u2019re the kind of thoughts that you wrestle with in youth and young adulthood against a backdrop of world chaos, unravelling like a diary page where thoughts spill right off it. Such is the case for much of Kamal.\u2019s discography; he exists within a sweet yet sombre tension where beautiful melodies fuse with confronting lyricism.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Listen to \u201csuffer\u201d\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

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The album is undoubtedly him trying to make sense of the world around him. \u201cHonestly, it was a good way to reflect on the universality of certain emotions,\u201d he shares. \u201cI think anything that you experience that you think is entirely unique, there\u2019s at least a kernel of that emotion that you can find in other people \u2013 that\u2019s also beautiful about art in general.\u201d He uses this idea to examine how the realisation that the most intimate of your emotions, the ones that may feel too secretive or shameful, are often shared. That\u2019s the core of this record\u2019s message: \u201cYes, there\u2019s a universality in suffering, but we are all experiencing it. So much of modern-day culture is about dividing us, but if we find the commonality in our struggle, then we can emancipate ourselves from it.\u201d Nevertheless, it also forces him to confront some home truths: \u201cThe answer really is that I don\u2019t manage very well.\u201d Thus, the album title was born.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Kamal., it\u2019s in this questioning that he\u2019s become less focused on the end result \u2013 or at least it being a polished one. Through living and creating, he\u2019s come to the conundrum of life, one growing more complex with time, perhaps. Rather than run away, which might be more comfortable, he\u2019s sitting in the discomfort and examining those feelings that \u201cmight not be pleasant\u201d, but are important to interrogate, nonetheless. \u201cThis is the first time, really, I\u2019m turning autotune off in the music,\u201d he says. \u201cI want it to be raw. I want it to be untethered. I want it to have a feeling about it that isn\u2019t as curated and as refined as lots of my previous stuff was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Naturally, that required a slight pivot, sonically. Now, he\u2019s interested in \u201cmore live, organic-sounding instruments [which] made it feel easier to carry that message across.\u201d With this freedom, he pushes the boundaries in a bid to become the kind of musician he wants to be. \u201cIt was definitely terrifying at first, stepping out of the comfort of padded electronic autotune production, but I feel like there wasn\u2019t a way that I could authentically express myself and these themes without taking that risk,\u201d he says. So, he went back to basics, starting with the instrumental. \u201cI feel like it dictates which direction of thinking I\u2019m going to go,\u201d he says. For Kamal., the best songs are those written from a very honest, true and real feeling, before being hyperbolised. \u201cDrama and music are what I really love. That\u2019s what I was going for with this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a fear of being claustrophobic and putting myself in a box creatively,\u201d he says. So, to combat this, he\u2019s returned to instruments at their most unrefined. \u201cThere\u2019s definitely an electronic thread throughout it,\u201d he says, because he loves electronic instruments generally, and feels like \u201cthey always sit nicely over the more traditional band setups,\u201d but a lot of it is more traditional. That classic guitar, bass sound \u2013 an almost rock, indie setup that he wanted to nail. It meant treading out of his comfort zone and instead gaining confidence in one definite constant: himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will always be the common thread between it,\u201d the singer-songwriter says. \u201cI\u2019m such a lyric-driven person that if you read along, it\u2019s definitely still a command project. It\u2019s about that growth, and I\u2019m growing as a person. The way that I\u2019m looking at the world is changing, and I wanted that to reflect in the music.\u201d And we\u2019ve already heard (and seen) that in the lead singles that have come from the 13-track album: \u201cno friend, no lover\u201d featuring Keaton Henson, the English composer he grew up loving \u2013\u00a0 and \u201ci don\u2019t care\u201d. Both track the uncanny nature of relationships in the digital age \u2013 the former as a rejection of fickle friends and foes, the latter capturing the more grief-filled detachment that comes with one ending. Elsewhere, British alt-pop\/R&B darling Natanya joins him on \u201cback then\u201d, a quintessentially London collab that serves as an inside look at their back-and-forth conversations on being young creatives in the music industry \u2013 \u201cshe\u2019s just so tasteful that I knew she would get it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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\"Kamal.<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

All things considered, performance will be a big part of this record\u2019s storytelling. A chance to physically bask in both the melancholy and beauty of this record with fans, listeners and beyond. \u201cIn the attention economy we\u2019re living in, getting people\u2019s attention for an hour is the most thing<\/em> that you can do these days,\u201d he observes. \u201cEveryone is so occupied with other things, and to experience the music live, as it was created, in those rooms, is really what I\u2019m looking forward to the most.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

From homegrown city pubs to the literal Underground (\u201cif that\u2019s even possible\u201d), for this next tour, Kamal. is looking to stage shows that feel more like intimate jam sessions. It\u2019ll be a side-step away from what he\u2019s done before, but he\u2019s learned that: \u201cTaking risk is always worth it in the name of expression and honesty, and even if you\u2019re scared, it\u2019s often evidence that you\u2019re actually stepping in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, he\u2019s embracing the newness that this part of the journey requires. Continuing to tend to those persistent questions, but honouring the foundation they\u2019ve stemmed from. \u201cThis feels like an almost coming-of-age moment for me as an artist \u2013 establishing myself and feeling confident in my creative decisions,\u201d Kamal. says. \u201cBut if anything, it\u2019s inspired me to do it again afterwards, use this as momentum to then switch up again.\u201d Already, he\u2019s future-facing; working on the music that\u2019s coming beyond how the fuck does everybody else manage?<\/em> \u201cThe stuff I\u2019ve been making recently, since the album has been mixed and mastered and whatnot, is definitely weirder,\u201d he shares, that familiar cheeky glint on his face still. \u201cI\u2019m kind of vacillating between these different parts of myself, and I\u2019m ready to flip it again after this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pre-save how the fuck does everybody else manage?<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Words<\/strong><\/em> \u2013 Aswan Magumbe<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t20 May 2026\t\t\t<\/div>\n
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Feature Interview<\/a><\/div>\n
Music<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\n\t\t\t\tWhat the Hot Girls are Reading This Spring<\/span> <\/span><\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wonderland KAMAL. IS DIALLING IT DOWN\u00a0 He\u2019s embraced pop maximalism, rode the wave of cosigns and trialled the \u201cstar\u201d thing. Now, Harlesden-hailing singer-songwriter Kamal. is in search of a rawer, truer sound, with a story that is gradually unfolding \u2013 and everyone\u2019s leaning in. City gloom, wobbly Spring weather and a tense socio-political climate. But […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,257],"class_list":["post-1945225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-wonderlandmagazine-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1945225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1945225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1945225\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1945225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1945225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1945225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}