Das zweite Soloalbum der britisch-libaneischen Singer/Songwriterin NADINE KHOURI errscheint als CD und LP (mit bedrukcter Innenhülle und Download-Code) beim französischen Label Talitres. Aufgenommen und produziert wurde "Another Life" in London und Bristol gemeinsam mit dem Produzenten John Parish (PJ Harvey, Aldous Harding).

The album, which was both allowed space to grow and simultaneously held back by the COVID-19 pandemic, was borne of a malaise that had long since been settling in for Khouri. The increasingly vitriolic attitude to immigrants seen in the UK since Brexit paired with the isolation of lockdown, and as a first-generation immigrant herself, Khouri struggled to understand her place.
The record draws on a sense of permanent exile, and of finding oneself in a liminal space that may or may not be of one’s own creation. The impact for Khouri of both the pandemic and the emotional aftermath of the 4th August 2020 explosion in her hometown of Beirut mean that these feelings of detachment don’t distance her from her listener, but brings her closer to them. Another Life finds universality in her most singular experiences.
Fans of Khouri’s music so far will recognize her distinct and minimalistic approach to both vocals and music alike: the serene, dreamlike quality to her songs, suffused with otherworldly, beatific textures. But ‘Another Life’ offers a delicate rearrangement of her earlier sound. The sparse, acoustic production of her first album is replaced with a more naturalistic approach. Parish and Khouri have not left minimalism behind, but have instead made the most of every element, with carefully curated space providing depth, where there might otherwise be emptiness. Though the record finds Khouri uncertain of her place in the world, her music has never felt more assured or precise.
The album frequently touches on that which has been lost - from life in a pre-social media world, to a city that no longer looks the same, or the ghosts of those we’ve left behind (the late, great singer Lhasa de Sela is also referenced in tribute.) “When the pandemic happened and I was stuck between four walls in London,” says Khouri, “it was hard not to start excavating the past - people that I knew that are no longer with us, lives I’ve lived that seemed lost or far from me. I was writing so that I wouldn’t forget a lot of things for good.” In ‘Another Life’, Khouri has captured these thoughts and these memories forever, and in doing so has given the listener an opportunity to consider all that has been left behind, and all that might yet come in their own journey.