ALBUM REVIEW: Nemahsis- Verbathi
Palestinian-Canadian artist Nemahsis (née Nemah Hasan) is going through change, heartbreak, and isolation, and we hear every bit of it on her debut album Verbathim.
Nemahsis first gained traction online after releasing her first single “What If I Took it Off For You?” in 2021, after being exploited by a company for an ad campaign. The song went viral on TikTok, with Muslim women using the song to talk about their experiences with the hijab and how it has inspired them.
Nemahsis independently released the 12-song LP on September 13, 2024. The album and artist gained a lot of media attention, good and bad, after the events of October 7. Nemahsis shared on social media that she was dropped by her label on October 12 for being Palestinian and pro-Palestine. She’d been unable to be signed to another record label because of her Palestinian heritage, forcing her to be fully independent. Nemahasis said the name Verbathim is “just the word ‘verbatim’ except someone is grabbing my tongue,” to illustrate the censorship she’s faced in the music industry.
In the opening track “new body new mind,” Nemahsis sings about experiencing change retroactively, wanting to bring the past back, and dealing with the pain of losing it. It’s an almost hypnotic track with a distorted guitar as her soleaccompaniment. The lyrics are ambiguous, but they still bite – a pattern that is present throughout the entire album.
My favorite track, “you wore it better,” tells a relatable story of comparison and exactly how it steals your joy. Nemahsis said the track was inspired by a time when she bought the same shirt as a friend but couldn’t wear it for years because she believed it would never look as good on her.
Nemahsis delivers impressive, Remi Wolf-esque vocals over an instrumental worth dancing to. The lyrics echo the same self-hatred and belittling I subjected myself to many times, believing that I could never be as cool as the people around me. Nemahsis’ mission as an artist is to echo the voices “for everyone that doesn’t fit the mold,” and she truly succeeded on this track.
The seventh track “i borrow happiness from tomorrow” is an improvised song with the same feel as the opener. Nemahsis’ vocals are raw, invoking heartbreak, and its lyrics are killer. The song’s title comes from the popular expression “borrowing happiness from tomorrow” which means to reduce present pain at the expense of future regret. Nemahsis calls it a “debt of sadness.”
Nemahsis keeps it energetic with tracks like “delusion,” “dead giveaway,” and “stick of gum.” Even though they’re backed with interesting, fast-paced instrumentals, the lyrics keep you grounded in her reality. With lyrics like “you could plead guilty and I will do the time” and “The faster you move, the closer you are to becoming starved,” it’s clear that no matter what we hear, Nemahsis wants us to feel her pain.
Through all this pain, Nemahsis still embraces her roots. The music video for “stick of gum” was filmed in her hometown of Jericho in the occupied West Bank. She worked with a Palestinian director and creative team, ensuring that the same thing that made her “controversial” would be spotlighted in her art.
“chemical mark” is the album’s closer, and it’s hypnotic. The instrumental is a modest loop of piano, guitar, and synths Nemahsis croons over. Nemahsis said the song is about the effects trauma has on the body. The lyrics are ambiguous, but they left an impression on me – an empty feeling in my chest. As she intended.
RIYL: Fiona Apple, Rachel Chinouriri, Clairo
FCC: Clean
-DJ Pinkie Pie AKA Lalou Ratsimihah