I Can See — Nick Hakim

The ATO deal ended and a relationship ended, and what came through is twelve songs on Hakim's own Earseed Records, out July 24, distributed by Stem. Five years of work: bedroom demos first, then Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas, then Electric Lady and Sear Sound in New York. Andrew Sarlo co-produced, Heba Kadry mastered. The detail that decides it is what stayed in the mix. An out-of-tune piano. A chair. A car going past outside. Hakim has spent a decade as the producer other people call, and this is the record where his own catalog overtakes the session work. Stereogum made it album of the week.