Waleed announces debut EP ‘Magdalena’

WALEED ANNOUNCES DEBUT EP MAGDALENA, OUT 6 DECEMBER VIA CITY SLANG

SHARES LEAD SINGLE ‘MAGDALENA (FEAT. MARTINA CAMARGO)’

“Waleed is destined for greatness”
DJ

“Five minutes spent listening to Waleed is as rewarding as any therapy session”
NME 100

“A beautiful euphoric/melancholy fusion of cut-up vocals, soft electronics and two-step beats”
The Guardian

“‘Se Rompen’ has a rare immediacy, a feeling that it has always been a part of your life”
Clash

Listen to ‘Magdalena (feat. Martina Camargo)’ here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0cH2T-62SQ

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Waleed has today returned with the announcement of his debut EP Magdalena which will be released on 6 December via City Slang. Along with the announcement he has shared the title-track and lead single ‘Magdalena’ which features Martina Camargo who is nominated for ‘Best Folk Music Album’ at the upcoming Latin GRAMMYs, she will also be performing at the ceremony this week on 14 November. The 7-track EP is the producer’s first new music since his 2023 single ‘Diaro’, and 2022 singles singles ‘Se Rompen‘ and ‘Sueños‘. His sleeper hit ‘Se Rompen’ took hold after being played out by the likes of Four Tet, Floating Points, Daphni, DJ Boring, DJ Seinfeld, Tourist and more as well as appearing in Essential Mixes from Ben UFO and KH (FourTet). Waleed also recently collaborated with Villager on their joint EP Big Fish. Now, following a break from releasing solo, this first EP project sets its sights on making good on the fervour that continues to build around this wildly exciting new producer.

Speaking of the single Waleed says:
“This song was born out of me listening to the Martina Camargo track ‘Guataqui’. The voice of the child, who I later found was her daughter, really stuck with me. When making this, it felt like this track was a gateway to another world, where the intro serves to walk you there. Martina Camargo is from the Magdalena region in Colombia, and my mom’s name is Magda, so it felt like the perfect title for the track and EP.”

Waleed was born in Washington, DC to Iraqi/Puerto Rican parents. He was raised on a diet of the latin greats from his mother (Juan Luis Guerra, Marc Anthony, Danny Rivera, Jerry Rivera), mixed with the sounds of his Iraqi grandmother’s apartment after she moved to DC. “The Iraqi satellite TV would be on all day, playing the top 40 tracks in the arab world” Waleed recalls, “it was a really beautiful way to grow up, these two cultures mixing while also being surrounded by American culture and an American life”.
This unique upbringing – combined with his day-job in coding, a much more binary process than music making where Waleed loves the fact that you can always make tangible progress – gave Waleed a unique perspective on dance music. With a strong focus on sound design, Waleed’s meshing of cultures and references makes for music that is at once ecstatic and melancholic.

Of the EP, Waleed notes that, “music for me has always been my own personal sanctuary, disconnected from the rest of the world. I could create this space, and get lost in it for hours. Magdalena is a journal of me growing up. It is the story of me embracing the joy of sharing this thing I care so much about. I get a lot of joy out of, over time, crafting a sound. It feels like a part of you and it takes my music to the space that I want it to live in. The right sort of noisy. The right sort of melancholic”. The gap between Waleed’s burst onto the scene and this first project he credits to the fact that, “sometimes I am an over tinkerer, and over thinkerer”, but this only goes to further credit the uniqueness of this music and the craft that takes it beyond a selection of incredibly infectious dance tracks (which they are) and into building an entire world.

Photo credit: Veit Engelbrecht

High-res images are available here

Magdalena EP tracklist:

1. Thinking
2. Magdalena (feat. Martina Camargo)
3. Tonight
4. Salve
5. Storytime
6. Now Go Be A Kid Again
7. Outro