With only two releases, Bakar has already made serious waves in 2018. "Big Dreams" and "All In" were put out in February and April. Their accompanying music videos are both VHS-style short clips featuring Bakar and other band members in a range of familiar scenery— church pews, rooftops, and London convenience stores. For an artist with only a handful of other singles released intermittently in the past two years, he has done remarkably well establishing a strong identity for himself both visually and musically.
Grainy vintage textures, retro-alternative punk rock sounds, and inspiration from his home city of London are strewn throughout his songs; his first lengthy project, Badkid, deepened these motifs. The 11-track LP, which was released last night, is stuffed with story-telling and modernized rock riffs in an addictive 30-minute package. His lyrics touch on his relationship with his mom, music, home, and women.
One of the best songs on the LP is named "4am"— it begins distorted and slow, singing about feeling lost in the come down after a long night out. Unexpectedly, it picks up halfway through, transitioning into something that sounds almost hopeful. The fifth song "Badlands" was released with a music video filled with go-pro style selfie clips and lo-fi CCTV security cam footage of Bakar causing mayhem in the streets of London. The LP was released on his personal label bash* and he is scheduled to play a release show for Badkid at Camden's Assembly Hall May 22nd.
