Nader Khalil
plays the speaker like an
instrument in new single Concrete Heart
February 12, 2026
Khalil pushes sonic boundaries with ‘Concrete Heart’, introducing a groundbreaking “Negative Space” effect
The artist's unique approach to sound design emphasises space and clarity
LISTEN TO CONCRETE HEART NOW
WATCH MUSIC VIDEO
Egyptian-Iranian artist Nader Khalil follows up his recent EP Nader Khalil 3 with a new single and music video: Concrete Heart. Produced, written, and engineered by Khalil, the song symbolizes a significant evolution in his sound, and it’s out now.
The song features a sparse landscape driven by a West Coast synth and bounce. Khalil strategically removes sound at key moments where the vocals and bass would clash. This creates a groundbreaking “negative space” effect effect, where listeners expect to hear sound but instead experience a sense of spaciousness that amplifies the song’s overall impact. “It’s like playing the speaker as an instrument”, he explains. He debuted “Concrete Heart” live at Beirut and Beyond International Music Festival in December 2025, where the audience experienced how this effect transforms the listening experience: a more expansive sound without needing additional layers, avoiding any harshness.
His husky vocal delivery complements the lyrics, which are presented as subtitles in the video, describing an elusive woman whose presence is both strong and chilling. The production of the recording emphasises the sensation of loss of coverage or error in the transmission signal, which unmistakably evokes a dystopian effect; this, in turn, makes the listener reflect on the state of the concept of dystopia in the cultural framework of the moment.
Khalil also took control of the music video, recording and editing in an inverse color scheme and heavy distortion. The visual language mirrors the song’s essence: clarity in the synth aligns with stark black-and-white imagery. The distortion creates silhouettes—much like the “negative space” in the sound—where detailed features remain indecipherable, enhancing the sense of mystery. Watch ‘Concrete Heart’ music video here
Concrete Heart is a compelling follow-up to his EP trilogy. His previous projects, Nader Khalil 1 and Nader Khalil 2 (2022), feature popular tracks like War & Peace, Can’t Decide, Wahda Wahda, Dark Mawwal and Wild Trance. The final segment, Nader Khalil 3, released in November 2025, is his most expansive and innovative work to date. His debut singles Crud (2019) and 98 (2021) have more than 1 million plays on Spotify.
Nader Khalil
Nader Khalil (55k monthly listeners) is an Egyptian-Iranian artist whose sound is a tightly constructed blend of custom-built Arabic synths and haunting, husky vocals. He is fully self-reliant: he records his own vocals, produces every track, and handles the mixing and mastering in-house. Hypnotic, propulsive, and unflinchingly direct, his music reflects an uncompromising voice shaped by life across the U.S., the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America. In an era of branding and irony, Nader stands apart, letting the truth cut clean through the noise.
His career began under the alias Nok From the Future, a SoundCloud-era project between 2013 and 2017 that has amassed more than 50 million streams. Nok’s collaborators have included artists such as Dylan Brady (100 Gecs), Kevin Abstract (Brockhampton), Cousin Stizz, and Night Lovell. Though that chapter ended without formal closure, its community still lives on—20k monthly listeners on Spotify and a digital footprint that refuses to fade.
In 2019, Nader re-emerged under his own name, claiming full authorship over his identity with a sound that was sharper, harder, and more urgent. His 2022 debut EP, Nader Khalil 1, introduced a focused chaos: six explosive tracks built on rage-infused beats and untamed vocals. With Nader Khalil 2, he delivered a deeper, more expansive seven-track project that moved with intention and precision. Tracks like War & Peace, Wahda Wahda, Dark Mawwal and No Reason challenged narratives that had long excluded Middle Eastern voices from Western music spaces.
Nader’s visual world mirrors his sound: raw and self-contained. Shot, directed, and edited in-house (usually on an iPhone), his videos capture moments as they are, stripped of pretense or staging.
NADER KHALIL 3
Tracklist (Stream here)
- Storm Brewing
- SemiAutoMad (feat. BONES)
- Haiwanat (feat. LMehdi & Samah Abdulhamid)
- Waddup Hennh (feat. Robel Ketema)
- Violent
- Falahi (feat. Samah Abdulhamid)
- Stitches
- Blue Sky (feat. Nok from the Future)
- Wss Wssa
- Abu Shujaa
- Gasping
Concrete Heart cover art by Nader Khalil
Video shot and edited by Nader Khalil
Artist photo (1) by Tamara Saadé (@tamarasaade_)
Artist photos (2) and (3) by Nadia Khalil
Press for Nader Khalil.