Sign up for our mailing list Real artists creating records on their own terms
Close

Sign up for our mailing list

News

Rafiq Bhatia Releases Meticulous New Album 'Breaking English'
Friday, April 6th, 2018

Rafiq Bhatia Releases Meticulous New Album 'Breaking English'

New York composer, producer, and Son Lux guitarist Rafiq Bhatia is reaching for the emotional intensity of avant-garde jazz through sculptural electronic composition on his new album, Breaking English, out today on ANTI- Records.

Bhatia’s audacious first album as a producer seeks to shatter preconceptions about how much can be said without a word, challenging existing musical vocabulary with a language of its own.

Watch the new live video for title track “Breaking English” directed by Anderson Wright HERE and order the album HERE. Described as “a guitarist who refuses to be pinned to one genre, culture or instrument,” by the New York Times, read their feature on Bhatia and “Breaking English” HERE.

Bhatia is the first-generation American son of Muslim immigrant parents who trace their ancestry to India by way of East Africa. Early influences such as Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane, and Madlib—as well as mentors and collaborators including Vijay Iyer and Billy Hart—prompted him to see music as a way to actively shape and represent his own identity, not limited by anyone else’s prescribed perspective.

In 2014, Bhatia joined Son Lux, a studio-centered project in which producer Ryan Lott used software to warp found sounds into dazzling electronic experiments. Son Lux afforded Bhatia the chance to record with the likes of Lorde and Sufjan Stevens, but, more important, it gave him the support he needed to develop his voice as a producer—the process that ultimately yielded Breaking English.

Throughout the album, Bhatia’s guitar is just one part of a teeming, much bigger picture. Tense violin, exhaled gospel vocals, ricocheting drums and foreboding bass also populate Breaking English, all characters in an enveloping piece of musical cinema.

Bhatia is also eager to bring the hybridity of his ideas to the live stage; He will be performing tracks from Breaking English with Ian Chang of Son Lux on drums and Jackson Hill on bass. All upcoming tour dates are below, including the album’s hometown release show at Brooklyn’s National Sawdust on April 9.

TOUR DATES
4/9 – New York, NY – National Sawdust – Album Release Show
4/11 – Chicago, IL – SchubasA
4/12 – Indianapolis, IN – IUPUI Masterclass

4/19 – Warsaw, PL – Poglos
4/20 – Berlin, DE – Acud Macht Neu
4/21 – Hamburg, DE – Hafenklang
4/22 – Copenhagen, DK – Ideal Bar
4/26 – Antwerp, BE – deSingel / Bouge B Festival
4/27 – London, UK – Shacklewell Arms
4/28 – Paris, FR – Point Éphémère
4/29 – Metz, FR – 7(7) Café
5/3 – Nyon, CH – LA Parenthèse
5/4 – Luzern, CH - Sedel

5/29 – Los Angeles, CA – The Moroccan Lounge
5/30 – San Francisco, CA – Café Du Nord

Browse by Artist

2103All Artists 100Tom Waits 74Mavis Staples 59Neko Case 51Lost In The Trees 50Sean Rowe 48Dr. Dog 45The Milk Carton Kids
41Jolie Holland 40Bettye LaVette 37Man Man 36Son Little 35Tinariwen 33DeVotchKa 33Tim Fite 31Islands 31Grinderman 29Glen Hansard 28Saintseneca 27Galactic 27Wilco 27Delicate Steve 26Andy Shauf 25The Drums 24Michael Franti and Spe... 24Xenia Rubinos 22William Elliott Whitmo... 22Doe Paoro 22Bob Mould 21The Frames 21Nick Cave & The Bad Se... 20Joe Henry 20Christopher Paul Stell... 19Yves Jarvis 19Cass McCombs 19Booker T. Jones 19Sage Francis 18Gary V 18Deafheaven 18Calexico 17Yann Tiersen 17John K. Samson 16Jason Lytle 16The Antlers 16Danny Elfman 16Ramblin Jack Elliott 14Daniel Lanois 14Madi Diaz 14Jeremy Ivey 13Half Waif 13The Dream Syndicate 13Billy Bragg 12Leyla McCalla 12Girlpool 12Combo Chimbita 12Xavier Rudd 12Peter Silberman 11Mose Allison 11Lyrics Born 11Rain Machine 11Ryan Pollie 11Japandroids 11Roky Erickson 11Purr 11The Weakerthans 11Glitterer 11Jade Jackson 10High Pulp 10The Swell Season 10Darrin Bradbury 10Moor Mother 10Christian Lee Hutson 10So Much Light 10The Melodic 10Alfa Mist 9Hey, King! 9Curtis Harding 9Marianne Faithfull 9Wynonna 9Josiah Johnson 9M. Ward 9Cameron Avery 9N.A.S.A. 9Lido Pimienta 8Katy Kirby 8Greg Graffin 8Kate Davis 8Slow Pulp 8The Coup 8Solillaquists of Sound 8Cadence Weapon 7Kelly Hogan 7Ben Harper 7Title Fight 7Dead Man's Bones 7Ben Harper and Charlie... 7Alec Ounsworth 7Richard Reed Parry 7Beth Orton 7Eddie Izzard 7Elliott Smith 6Broken Twin 6Rafiq Bhatia 6Busdriver 6Deradoorian 6A Girl Called Eddy 6MJ Lenderman 6Kate Bush 6Bonny Doon 6James Brandon Lewis 6Os Mutantes 5Foxwarren 5One Day As A Lion 5The Tallest Man On Ear... 5Scott McMicken and THE... 5Ezra Furman 5Beat Connection 5Jasmyn 5Keaton Henson 5Art Moore 5The Field 5Kristine Leschper 4sunking 4Pops Staples 4The Good Ones 4Sparklehorse 4Waxahatchee 4Marketa Irglova 4Ersi Arvizu 4Jackson+Sellers 3Walter Wolfman Washing... 3Plains 3Mothers 3Sierra Leones Refugee... 3Marc Ribot 3Danny Cohen 3Sam Akpro 3Petra Haden 3Mavis Staples & Levon... 2Fleet Foxes 2Various Artists: RANGO 2ANTI- Records 2Jeff Tweedy 1Various Artists: ROGUE... 1Rogue's Gallery 1Antibalas 1Simian Mobile Disco 1Porter Wagoner 1Blackalicious 1Lightman Jarvis Ecstat... 1Joe Strummer And The M... 1Solomon Burke 1Youth Group 1Merle Haggard 1case/lang/veirs 1The Locust 1Taylor Vick 1Tricky 1Kronos Quartet with Br...
See Full List+