About Rafiq Bhatia's Breaking English (feat. Sam Dew)
Rafiq Bhatia has reinvented the title track of his critically acclaimed 2018 album Breaking English. Originally wordless, “Breaking English” now features original lyrics and vocals by singer and songwriter Sam Dew.
Bhatia offers the following analogy for the feeling behind the music: “In August, I lost my grandmother. In Muslim funerals, there is a communal element in laying the deceased to rest. Dozens of mourners (family members, friends, and members of the congregation) all take turns as pallbearers, each shouldering the weight briefly before making room for the next person, singing in unison as the procession continues. It’s a teeming, resonant swarm helping to bear the final burden gently. (‘...a million other lights like me beside me and we’ll return again’)”