Imaad Wasif and the communal catalyst and burning beauty of "Believe" (Official Video)

 

"I walk your footsteps to the shore / I see your star to the north / I know that we’ll get stronger when we come apart / I believe..."

The communal catalyst and burning beauty of "Believe" by singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Imaad Wasif, and from his upcoming sixth album "Superconsciousness" (dropping on March 18th, 2026), washes over you with it's cleansing spirit. From the very get go, it feels like a forever song, one of those songs that will become a standard in Churches, at weddings and touchstone moments. It's constructions, part hymnal, part Americana, part rebel rock, part blues meets gospel meets pop Western noir, It's classic beauty will unquestionably be sung by rockers and country artists, by pop stars and indie rockers. As a music lover who oftentimes swims in deeply churning abstractions and subversions, I am also an admitted sucker for earnest songs that swing for the fences in terms of populist aesthetics and Wasif's choice to go straight to the iconic motif's, symbolism in such a beautifully sincere way works on all levels, I mean he pens: 

"I’ve got the whole wild world in my hands

A god spark shooting lightning from within
So I’ll bless the days that I’ve got and how

‘Cause in the end I won’t remember the future is now" 

... he twists a classic line and expands on it in truly existential ways. The song is hopeful but also saturated with the foreboding shortness of life and the inherent sadness of our lives too. I have the sense that this co-exists as a relationship song too and the connection of various relationships (of all types) as little deaths too. This is to say, great songs mean a lot of things, are recontextualized when we need them as comfort or something else and "Believe" is a great song. And great songs are often times adopted by other artists. I would love if Iggy Pop did his own rendition and The Killers too, I can already hear them in my head.   

LINER NOTES (excerpted / bracketed):

[Believe is Wasif’s first new music since 2022 - So Long Mr. Fear, unfolding like a dappled dream in the sun - a song of unification and acceptance, written in the space where love, loss and transformation meet. Composed in the quiet moments between storms during his 2023- 2024 touring period as the fourth member of Yeah Yeah Yeahs for Cool It Down - skirting waves of disillusionment with a world in crisis - the track began as a personal mantra before taking on a communal life of its own. Over the past year, audiences at Wasif’s shows instinctively started singing and clapping along despite never having heard it before.]

“It’s the first song I’ve ever written that’s had that effect on people. It’s a beautiful thing for me to witness. I’m essentially a hardcore nihilist with a heaving heart. I’m led by emotion. I heed the howling omens all around me. But at the end of the day, belief is what you make it.”

[Produced by Lewis Pesacov (Julius Eastman, Best Coast), Believe contrasts Wasif’s raw edges with lush, symphonic warmth. The track features cello by Heather McIntosh (Elephant 6 Collective), slide guitar from Rocco DeLuca, and drums by Garrett Ray (Vampire Weekend) and Mike Bulington, channeling the devotional haze of late-era Spacemen 3 and the stripped clarity of Plastic Ono Band while retaining the emotional voltage that defines Wasif’s work.]

[The single is accompanied by a stark black-and-white video directed by Adam Wallace, inspired by unreleased Sun Ra films, Le Samouraï, and the minimalist cinema of Jim Jarmusch. The film follows Wasif as a wandering searcher, with a cameo from his son as the cosmic dancer, a symbol of renewal and the brightness of what comes next.

Believe also marks the beginning of a new chapter in Wasif’s career. Earlier this year, he launched Voidist Records, reclaiming the masters of his first five solo albums and re-releasing them under one banner for the first time. The forthcoming Superconsciousness will be the label’s debut full-length.]

In announcing the imprint, Wasif shared:

"After years of floating in the void of the digital world, they have now been officially re-released for streaming under one umbrella - Voidist Records - my new record label, owned and operated by yours truly. A measure of clarity in an otherwise chaotic world.

Starting this new label means a future of autonomy and artistic exploration… being able to oversee the eventual re-release of all my past masters under one big black umbrella. In this world we are all working for a kind of freedom, and I’m so happy to finally be at this place with my music."

Voidist Records marks the first time in Wasif’s 30-year career that he has been able to take full control of his catalog - an arc that sets the stage for the exploratory, deeply personal nature of Superconsciousness.

-Robb Donker Curtius

Believe

I walk your footsteps to the shore
I see your star to the north
I know that we’ll get stronger when we come apart
I believe

I thank you for the days that we spent
Wrapped in sacred fineries that love lent
Ours was a kingdom heaven sent
I cannot speak my mind
I find I only speak in tongues
I believe

I know that this won’t last forever
And I hope that it won’t even matter
If I’m a speck of dust in the black hole of time
I’ve been estranged and I’ve been mystified
I’ve got the whole wild world in my hands
A god spark shooting lightning from within
So I’ll bless the days that I’ve got and how
‘Cause in the end I won’t remember the future is now
In the end I won’t remember the future
In the end we won’t remember the future
I believe in the howling omen
I believe that we are chosen
I believe

credits

released January 21, 2026
Cello: Heather McIntosh @mcintoshhhh
Slide guitar: Rocco DeLuca @roccodeluca
Drums: Mike Bulington @mikebulington
Percussion: Garrett Ray @gray_wave
Production & Organ: Lewis Pesacov
Mixing: @derekacoburn
Mastering: Harris Newman @greymarketmastering

THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:

https://www.facebook.com/imaadwasifmusic

https://www.instagram.com/imaadwasif/?hl=en

https://open.spotify.com/track/2vDLKGq1NDdn7O1i8xdDDk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQz0pC9gBKk

Imaad Wasif is an Indian singer, guitarist and songwriter whose music combines elements of psychedelic folk and rock, raag and minimalism. He has released five solo albums, Great Eastern Sun, Dzi, The Voidist, Strange Hexes and S/T as well as numerous collaborations. His credits include early slo-core noise rock duo lowercase, psych folk band alaska!, albums with Lou Barlow & The Folk Implosion, Grim Tower and ACID, He has also recorded with Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Lykke Li and co-wrote songs with Karen O for 'Where the Wild Things Are.’

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Imaad Wasif, singer songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, indie rock, avant pop, indie pop, dream pop, new album,  "Believe" (Official Video),  upcoming album "Superconsciousness", Western pop noir, communal catalyst,