Nabihah Iqbal dazzles London’s EartH Hackney
Words by PUJA NANDI
Nabihah Iqbal (far right) headlining EartH Hackney, London
Nabihah Iqbal dazzles at her biggest headline show to date at London’s EartH Hackney, a venue which holds a large, decrepit, art deco auditorium that has hosted some of the most exciting upcoming artists to date. Nabihah is supported by Laura Groves who bravely takes to the stage solo, juggling the synth and keyboard in tandem with impressive operatic and melancholic vocals ending with a vivid song ‘Heaven Again’.
Taking the stage, Nabihah Iqbal is accompanied by Al Robinson (lead guitar, synth, backing vocals), Beth O’Lenahan (bass), and Remi Graves (drums, SPD). It may have been either a practical choice or a personal one for Nabihah to stand to the side of the band, instead of centre-stage, so that the drummer could be seen too. She wears a sparkly, tassled jacket with her signature beret and opens the set with ‘In Light’ from her Ninja Tune-signed second album ‘Dreamer’, which was released earlier this year. It’s the perfect opener to ease the audience into the start of their journey into her ethereal, shoegaze and electro-inflected world.
Nabihah tells us that some of her songs are partly inspired by the literary world. If someone had walked in at this point, they could be forgiven to think that this was an aural interpretation of a book club. Nabihah casually namedrops Victorian-era novelist Thomas Hardy and his book ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’ as inspiration for album single ‘The World Couldn’t See Us’, a song that is bittersweet yet fast with post-punk beats. The band move on to ‘Sunflower’, ‘Gentle Heart’ and ‘Lilac Twilight’.
Nabihah is clearly a candid spirit. In between songs, she talks about her journey to get to today and she mentions the misfortunes that happened during the making of the album. She beams while she describes that this moment, standing on stage at a sold-out show in London, means “it was all worth it”. The statement is met with a lot of cheering and appreciation from the crowd.
A particular highlight was ‘Zone 1 to 6000’, a track from her debut album, ‘Weighing of the Heart’, which is an ode to London and the halcyon days of what it felt like as a 20-something on hazy nights out. Given the subject matter and location, and Nabihah specifically mentioning Dalston nightlife, it obviously resonates with many in the crowd.
The band snuck in two surprise covers which sent people into an almost frenzy of excitement - the seminal Deftones track ‘Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)’, and the second was the classic ‘A Forest’ by The Cure. They were deft interpretations and by the end of the show, most of the room were on their feet dancing.
Nabihah wears her heart on her sleeve on stage, and by doing so she draws the audience in further. A sense of closeness is created from her sharing of personal anecdotes and experiences. She is an exciting artist to watch, not least because it’s great to see a British Pakistani woman rocking it on stage with a guitar.