Heems by Atif Ateeq
“DAME” LISTEN: https://orcd.co/heems_dame
(July 17th, 2024) - Himanshu 'HEEMS' Suri comes back around with his second single from his second album this year, VEENA LP, and each song couldn’t be more different than the next. “DAME” exudes bold self-assuredness with his signature playful rhymes, set against hypnotic and glitchy production. Throughout the track, he shares his hopes and aspirations for future relationships, keeping the tone light-hearted.
VEENA LP, will be released on August 23rd via his VEENA CO. label. The album, which is produced by Sid Vashi, includes previously released single, “MANTO,” featuring Vijay Iyer, a sonic exploration that digs deep into the bloody partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 with the same brutal honesty as the writer it’s named after. The song garnered acclaim for its bold, unfiltered lyricism, which The New York Times described as a "somber, pealing modal-jazz piece with its own diasporic heritage."
VEENA LP is a confessional record confronting trauma across its many forms - generational, familial, and complex. “Inter and trans-generational trauma is something that is starting to be spoken about more in psychiatry, and many if not most Indian families have been impacted by partition in some way,” adds Sid Vashi, the producer of VEENA LP, who also holds a background in psychiatry. The LP follows Heems’ highly-acclaimed album LAFANDAR, which was released earlier this year and highlighted by Stereogum, HipHopDX, Pitchfork, Passion of the Weiss, and The FADER amongst others. Tethering VEENA LP together are voicemail skits from a who’s-who of India’s global creative community. No Doubt’s Tony Kanal, Bollywood director Zoya Akhtar, frequent collaborator Riz Ahmed, and more check in, voicing appreciation for their friend’s work and constant mentions of his health, hinting at the burden that very same work is placing on him. “Several of the voicemails are real,” Heems revealed. Moments like these are most revelatory on the project. We see how a group of artists sharing a cultural background encourage and support one another as a community. Only Heems, who is a dhewtie after all, could put together such an ensemble, where Arooj (Aftab), Avan (Jogia), and Ankur (Tiwary) stand side by side. Pre-save/order VEENA LP and listen to “DAME” above. See album details below, and stay tuned for more HEEMS coming soon. | 
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