IKONIKA - SAD

Time goes by, trends chase one another, and any hype inevitably fades — it probably couldn't be any other way. But those who manage to survive get to enjoy the gift of perspective, and above all the privilege of evolution. From the club floor to parenthood, from behind the console to the microphone, dissecting a queer identity that's no longer terrifying but instead ready to absorb the uncertainties of the future: the recent slice of life of Sara Abdel-Hamid, aka Ikonika, has been the stage for all those small-yet-huge changes that come with adulthood. But heaven forbid she should surrender; between telegraphic lyrical intimism and a crystal-clear handling of digital material, "SAD", her fifth studio album still released under the aegis of Hyperdub, reflects the journey of an artist who's always on the move.

The first thing that grabs you on listening is purely rhythmic: footwork, dancehall, amapiano, bass and Uk-garage, layered one on top of the other like the many sheets of butter and dough in a croissant, building a dense digital drumming that pushes relentlessly through the record's ten tracks. Packed into the middle of the mix, further layers of keyboards flesh out Middle Eastern scales and insistent wave synths, shortening the breath with every beat. But this time it's Ikonika herself who grabs the mic, her voice bare and solitary, at times almost incidental, recalling peers such as Tirzah, Raisa K and Loraine James. With a DJ's hand and an electronic songwriter's pen, “SAD” moves through that middle ground between emotional tension and post-rave collapse.

What follows is a run of intense, engaging tracks, like the opener “Listen To Your Heart”, barely whispered over a grey urban backdrop, or “Gone”, as dark and pressing as Alewya's pout, absorbing the sting of a past relationship.

Ikonika's half-Egyptian roots surface in the dense drive of “Take Control”, while on the floating “Slow Burn” and “Sense Seeker” - the latter aided by Dutch grime producer JLSXND7RS - she seems to channel her other half, specifically Filipino, through a dense ambient-techno pulse that wouldn't be out of place on the More Rice roster. These are, in short, the production subtleties of an album now emotionally far removed from the bare-bones Dubstep of “Contact, Love, Want, Have” and “Aerotropolis” and their stark, geometric artwork; in its place stand the playful globalism reminiscent of Amaarae on “Whatchureallywant” and an “Activate” that plays a game of subtraction with the queer beats of Brazilian baile funk.

Toward the end of the tracklist, two special guests enrich the record's dialogue. SHE Spells Doom, the stage name of Zambia's Wamya Tembo, adds further layers of African rhythm and blip on “Drum 1 (Take It)”, a track that's fairly minimal yet charged with a raw excitement bordering on gqom. Turkish-Cypriot writer Tice Cin, meanwhile, co-wrote “Make It Better” with Ikonika, a two-voice dialogue set against reinforced-concrete landscapes, perfect for capturing the colliding worlds of distant cultural legacies hopelessly tangled together in the great melting pot of contemporary London. Because, more than anything else, “SAD” is a deeply human album, a listen that's dense yet warm, at times snarling beneath digital machinery, only to stretch out with tender softness over keyboards suspended in mid-air.

Fifteen years on from her debut, Ikonika proves there are still new paths to explore in contemporary electronic music, even while reining in the dancefloor fire of old in favor of a more cautious, domestic maturity.

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01/12/2025