Hear the first track ‘Passing Lines’.

Folk experimentalist Ilyas Ahmed announced his new album, Closer To Stranger, will be out next January.

The album follows 2015’s I Am All Your Own and similarly includes Ahmed’s hypnotic 12-string acoustic guitar work in addition to a Fender Rhodes, electric guitar, keyboards and on two tracks, saxophone from Jonathan Sielaff of ambient duo Golden Retriever. The band and Ahmed have previously collaborated in the project Dreamboat.

The record is described as “a meditation on uneasy identity politics during times of unreason, seeking peace amidst chaos.” Today you can hear the first single ‘Passing Lines’ which comes with a video by Stephen Slappe.

Closer To Stranger is out January 26 via MIE Music. Take a look at the artwork and tracklist below.

Tracklist:

01. ‘MEDITATION ON THE SPLIT SELF’
02. ‘FALSE FRONT’
03. ‘PASSING LINES’
04. ‘ZERO FOR BELOW’
05. ‘FEVER PITCH’
06. ‘CANCEL TO REVEAL’
07. ‘UNTITLED 1’
08. ‘SLEEPWALKER’
09. ‘UNTITLED 2’
10. ‘FURTHERNESS’
11. ‘TWO STEPS AWAY’