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After a three-year hiatus, Bahraini musician Ali Malik is back in the recording studio and is set to release his next extended-play (EP) as a series of singles, over the course of the coming months.
The 37-year-old banker-by-day and bard-by-night is kicking off the unveiling of the four-track Thlípsi with the release of its first song, Fragile, in the coming weeks.
“Over the last few years, we have all seen so much grief in almost every corner of the world, from conflicts to personal difficulties,” he told GulfWeekly.
“So, as I was working on my second album, I felt this spontaneous urge to do this EP, and thus Thlípsi was born!”
Taking its name from the Greek word for grief, Thlípsi is set to be a deep dive into global and personal issues, as a grunge rock-themed personal statement by Ali.
The first single to be released will be Fragile, which dives into multiple fractured personalities, and Ali’s journey to find himself.
The second single, Beautiful Red, is based on the idea of a rose sealed in a jar, unable to get oxygen.
“It’s about this idea of feeling stuck and slowly dying,” Ali added, explaining that it was inspired by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The third single You is about emerging from a difficult situation, and the final single Dead Roses is about past memories that hold people back, not letting them step into the present.
There is also a hidden track amongst the four singles, though Ali is coy about announcing too many details about it, inviting fans to experience it for themselves.
Starting with Fragile, the four tracks will be released on a monthly schedule, with the full EP expected to be out by the end of this year.
Ali’s last album Painted Words was released in 2021, and the medley of musical genres delved into his life in the previous eight years over the span of eight records.
As GulfWeekly has previously reported, Ali started his illustrious journey as a musician in 1999 as a bassist in the band Dive, with his brother Taqi as well as cousins Basil and Hamad.
Ali has always considered grunge rock to be a significant musical inspiration, musing on bands like Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and Opeth, to create his own unique sound.
Shortly after the release of his last album, the musician, who has been performing all over the kingdom for more than two decades, decided to take a break and focus on recording his next album Kiss the Sky.
He hopes to release the album next year.
Thlípsi will become available on Spotify, Apple Music and other major streaming platforms, on a monthly basis.
For details, follow @acemalik on Instagram.
