South X Lullaby: Nick Hakim

Nick Hakim begins with a bit of a fake-out — languorous strings like something out of a Stars Of The Lid record rumble from a sampler, somber and hesitant. But as he begins to sing in a heartbroken falsetto, surrounded by optical fibers hanging from the ceiling of SXSW's Optic Obscura installation by Raum Industries, the ambient intro morphs into a quiet, psychedelic croon.

"The Want" will appear on Hakim's full-length debut, Green Twins, but for now, this solo version is only backed by Mellotron and the reverb'd rhythms of what sounds like a Casio preset. It's soul music for outer-space, performed in a room that looks like outer-space.

SET LIST

• "The Want"

CREDITS

Producers: Bob Boilen, Mito Habe-Evans; Director/Videographer: Nickolai Hammar; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Photo: Nickolai Hammar; Executive Producer: Anya Grundmann.

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