Bakar: Nobody’s Home review – a spectacularly strong sense of place

‘A more tuneful north London analogue to south London’s genre-masher-in-chief, King Krule’: Bakar. Photograph by Gabriel Moses Photograph: Gabriel Moses

When the up-and-coming north London singer Bakar broke through in 2019, it was with a charming retro love song, Hell N Back. Breezy, brass-laden but sprinkled with enough drug references to maintain a respectable edge, Hell N Back channelled the vintage multicultural London sass of a young Lily Allen; its horns and overindulgence spoke of a love for Amy Winehouse. Bakar’s was a distinctive London voice making an uncommon splash in the US (200m-plus streams), earning props, mentoring and even some catwalk action from the late Virgil Abloh, among other early adopters.

The son of a Tanzanian mother who relocated to Camden, Abubakar Baker Shariff-Farr had other strings to his bow, too. In 2017, his debut single was a snaggle-toothed indie rock cut called Big Dreams, which sounded like Gorillaz in the raw, all punky delivery and melodic bounce – more of a Blur tune, in fact (both bands involve Damon Albarn).