Nov 11, 2022

By Caleb Campbell

Photography by Steve Gullick

Next week, Beirut-born and London-based singer-songwriter, Nadine Khouri is back with her sophomore full-length album, Another Life. Recorded in London and Bristol with Khouri’s longtime collaborator John Parish, the record finds Khouri taking on new sonic depths, pulling from echoes of blues, soul, ‘70s Laurel Canyon folk, and arranging them into fragile minimalist soundscapes. She explores into the corners of these arrangements, discovering ensconced worlds teeming with unexpected life and movement. The full album is out November 18th, and ahead of the release, Khouri has shared a final single from the album, “Keep On Pushing These Walls.”

“Keep On Pushing These Walls” encapsulates the serenity and quiet beauty infused within Another Life. A dry and sparse drum machine beat provides the backbone of the song, one steadily filled out by subtle pulses of bass, droning Mellotron tones, and dreamlike guitar melodies, lifting you skyward on floating instrumental textures.. Khouri fills this spacious mix with gorgeous soul harmonies and delicate crystalline vocals, bringing stirring life to the track’s quietest moments. Indeed, the song is about the same inspirational vitality it creates, with the lyrics tracing a tribute to the late Canadian singer/songwriter Lhasa一“Keep on pushing these walls/We surrender in this moment to your voice/We travelled so far, transformed/At the beginning of your voice.”

Khouri says of the track, “I wrote Keep On Pushing These Walls in tribute to the late, great Lhasa de Sela,” explains Nadine. “I’d seen Leslie Feist, Melissa Laveaux and others pay tribute to her life and work at the Barbican in London and came home and wrote this song. More generally, it’s about songs written by another that open us up to ourselves, to each other and to the world.

“Lhasa was a one-of-a-kind artist, whose music has accompanied me all throughout my life,” she continues. “People often talk about her as an extraordinary singer or performer, but she was equally a brilliant songwriter and storyteller. I often wonder what Lhasa would make of the world today. Her humility, openness and quest for authenticity always inspire me. Her music was expansive, beyond language and genre – she sang from and for the soul.”

Check out the song and video below. Another Life is out everywhere on November 18th via Talitres.