Nabihah Iqbal drops Throwing Shade moniker for debut album Weighing Of The Heart

© Shahir Iqbal
© Shahir Iqbal

And she’s released the first single Something More

NTS show host and producer Nabihah Iqbal, formerly known as Throwing Shade, has announced her debut album Weighing Of The Heart. Her first full-length is due out on 1 December via Ninja Tune.

Dropping the Throwing Shade alias, Iqbal has chosen to release the album under her birth name in a move to embrace her British Asian identity and to reflect her shift in a different direction musically. According to the press release, the debut album will see the artist channel sounds inspired by krautrock pioneers CAN and the Bauhaus movement. Furthermore, her debut will feature her playing live instruments, and incorporating more guitar-focused sounds.

The album’s theme focuses on feelings of existential doubt, and the title derives from an ancient Egyptian myth about judgement in the afterlife. On the album’s first single, Something More, Iqbal said, “[It’s] a song about a universal feeling that everyone shares even if they try to hide or ignore it. It’s about how true happiness and freedom only exist in the dimension of our fantasies, dreams and private thoughts. The reality of our physical existence constantly leaves us dissatisfied, frustrated and yearning for ‘something more’, even though we’ll never find a way to remedy these feelings.”

Stream Something More below, and check out the ancient Egypt-inspired artwork below. The album is available to pre-order here.

Revisit Crack’s 2014 interview with Throwing Shade.