Yesterday saw the release of Inheritance, the solo debut album from Palestinian-American composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and DJ Omar Ahmad. Poignant and reflective, the album is influenced by contrasting feelings as the press release describes, such as “empathy / disconnection, loss / discovery, longing / isolation.”

On the run up to the album release, Ahmad had shared two singles, ‘Lapses’ and ‘Cygnet Song’.  ‘Lapses’ was offered with a moving video created by Ahmad, visual artist ACE and painter Singha Hon. Of the song, Ahmad said:

“‘Lapses’ is a solitary walk at night. Relinquishing control, tension, and pain as your feet trod aimlessly. Letting the visions overcome you, falling through lapses in time, lapses in judgement, lapses in focus. This track represents a catharsis for me in many ways and of all the songs on Inheritance it most adequately summarizes the emotional cascade of life at the time of its writing. A hopefulness bursts through the melancholy, and a path materializes out of the ether, pulsing and inviting you to continue on.”

The second single, ‘Cygnet Song’, is also charged with emotional force and cements Ahmad as an artist capable of striking tenderness. He had this to say abou the track:

“I lost something between early childhood and high school, and gained another. “Cygnet Song” is a gentle yet somber, cyclical tale of losing oneself and rediscovering what makes me … me, and lamenting the time with myself that I lost. The simplicity and softness of the guitar layers and unfinished textural quality are an ode to childhood, and retaining the fragile soul amid the desire to refine ourselves in the public eye.”

Check out both tracks below and be sure to listen to the whole album, you’ll encounter a platter of emotions.

Inheritance is out now through AKP Recordings.