Abdullah Siddiqui, the prodigious singer-songwriter, lyricist and music producer from Lahore, is pursuing a degree abroad. But he also found time to make an EP in just six months.

After making a splash with the breakthrough single ‘Resistance’, he released his debut LP, Metannoya in 2019 to critical acclaim. He also collaborated with Nescafe Basement 5 where he performed ‘Resistance’. And, during the last season of Pepsi Battle of the Bands (2019), he collaborated with Fawad Khan for the latter’s single ‘Uth Jaag’.

Now back with the announcement of a new EP, the musician has disclosed this information along with releasing the first track from the record called ‘Kids’. It also features Islamabad-based musician Shamoon Ismail – who enjoys a massive following of his own and has several EPs to his credit.

Abdullah Siddiqui’s upcoming EP will feature 5 singles in total with each single featuring a new artist, reported a press statement. While Abdullah has made this disclosure via releasing the first single called ‘Kids’, he told Instep that it has nothing to do with an MGMT single of the same name from their breakthrough debut album, Oracular Spectacular.

“I do love that song! But the name was a coincidence. It just came organically out of the writing sessions,” clarified the polymath.

As for the EP title, Heterotopia, Abdullah confessed it is “definitely inspired by [philosopher] Michel Foucault’s concept of Heterotopia primarily.”

In the paper, ‘Of Other Spaces: Utopias and Heterotopias, Foucault notes, “The space in which we live, which draws us out of ourselves, in which the erosion of our lives, our time and our history occurs, the space that claws and gnaws at us, is also, in itself, a heterogeneous space. In other words, we do not live in a kind of void, inside of which we could place individuals and things. We do not live inside a void that could be colored with diverse shades of light, we live inside a set of relations that delineates sites which are irreducible to one another and absolutely not superimposable on one another.”

To get a deeper understanding and further context, reading the paper ‘Of Other Spaces: Utopias and Heterotopias’ (in entirety) may be a good idea for those curious enough. It is available online (for free).

Explaining the concept to the EP in simple terms, Abdullah told Instep, “Basically it’s an album about identity, and I was thinking of facets of identities as separate spaces. And in that model, the spaces of your identity that cause pain or trauma or confusion are the heterotopias of your mind.”

This song represents, according to a PR statement, Abdullah’s exclusive perspective on the entertainment industry.” The lyrics are said to be a depiction of his take “on the unshakeable imposter syndrome of his environment. On every level, the heartfelt composition lays bare raw feelings of doubt, insecurities, and not believing oneself as deserving of success.”

‘Kids’ is written, produced, mixed, and mastered by Abdullah Siddiqui and Shamoon Ismail and will be followed by 4 tracks, to be released as singles, in 2020.

Watch this space for a review of the EP.