I love Hanni El Khatib. I have since Will The Guns Come Out in 2011, and I’ve only grown to love him more with each release. Just a few weeks ago came the release of three-track Savage Times Vol 1, and when new single Miracle dropped last week, I noted that I hoped it would be a part of an upcoming Vol 2. My prayers were answered and Savage Times Vol 2 is now here via Innovative Leisure/Inertia.
The second compilation this year contains three more neat little tracks, totalling just over nine minutes. Each offering something totally different to each other. Paralysed is a bouncy and fun musical number with spiteful lyrics and a kind of Devendra Banhart vibe to it; the stripped back Miracle, featuring no more than a guitar and Khatib’s voice, is raw, bluesy and real, while final track Mangos and Rice is frantic and punky, overloaded with reverb and unhinged percussion, with the simplest lyrics, but the wildest music of all three, and probably most similar to what we got on Volume 1. Watch the video below.
I love that such a tiny pocket of musical moments can show off three entirely different faces of the one artist; it’s what I love about Hanni El Khatib, and it’s what I’m coming to love more about short EPs and mini-releases like this.
Listen to the three tracks below, and check out Volume 1 here. Fingers crossed for more from the San Francisco artist in the coming months.
Image: Supplied