Nearly one year ago, Khamari shared To Dry A Tear, the highly anticipated follow-up to his debut studio album, A Brief Nirvana. Instead of riding this momentum out, ahead of its first anniversary, the “Sycamore Tree” singer is throwing his vocal hat back in the ring.
Today (June 26), Khamari reunited with longtime collaborator and producer Diederik van Elsas (of Trackside) for his new single, “To Want Someone Badly.” Between Khamari’s steady production hand and van Elsas as well as Daoud’s in-studio contributions, “To Want Someone Badly” punches another notch on his charming crooner card.
If I were told “To Want Someone Badly” was a To Dry A Tear throwaway, I wouldn’t be surprised. But to be clear, that is not by any stretch a slight. Why’s that?
Well, “To Want Someone Badly” is a foundational blues record with perforating rock accents. Both of which would have made this tune a great sonic fit for To Dry A Tear. But the lusciously sensual and optimistic present-tense songwriting serves as an absolute contrast to the grim romantic flashbacks as well as dovey-eyed future illusions carved out on To Dry A Tear.
“To Want Someone Badly” escorts Khamari into a new era. One where he allows himself to let love in, or in this case lust, before past dating traumas can object.
“This is no currency / Know talk is cheap / It’s easier to say / Than show me what it is you mean / Open ends, blurred lines / In need of specificity / Won’t you dive into me,” sings Khamari.
Plenty of viral TikTok posts (including this one) have already dubbed Khamari indie R&B’s undisputed sex symbol. “To Want Someone Badly” pours gasoline on that already roaring online fire. But above all, through “To Want Someone Badly,” listeners witness Khamari unabashedly crossing the plain of pleasure’s threshold. In contemporary R&B, that is where the generational magic happens (i.e., classic baby-making music utopia).
Should “To Want Someone Badly” be the start of Khamari’s next musical thumbprint, I’m all in.
Watch Khamari’s official visualizer for his new single “To Want Someone Badly” below.
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