Alif Hilal is a self-described “child of Berlin and Berghain.” The Pennsylvania-born, Berlin-based vocalist, producer, and composer—who changed her name from Lyra Pramuk following her conversion to Islam—has garnered global acclaim for her dense, spirited, and vocal-centric compositions. Following the success of her 2020 debut Fountain and 2025’s string-heavy Hymnal, Hilal has increasingly turned her attention toward the dance floor, integrating DJing as a central instrument in her artistic storytelling.

In this exclusive FADER Mix, Hilal presents what she calls an “ungenred pluralism” that navigates a modular continuum of techno and house. The set, which features high-BPM experimental techno alongside classics from artists like Princess Superstar and Peaches, is an excerpt from a live performance in Venice, Italy, recorded this past June. “I played for almost three hours; this is the middle portion of the set, recorded live in an extremely hot room with no air conditioning,” Hilal explains. “DIY, steamy, sexy, intimate.”

For Hilal, DJing has become a vital extension of her production practice. “I’m very technical and very detail-oriented with mixing in the studio,” she notes. “With DJing, I was doing more deep listening or ambient sets for some years, but this year I bought XDJs for my home and have started to play club sets more. I am a raver at heart, and so I think it’s just natural that I am turning back to try my hand at it now.”

Her approach to the craft is deeply rooted in the history of dance music as a form of radical resistance. “Artistically and politically, it’s important for me to try to represent the history of dance music as a form of radical resistance, and to try to tell a story in my sets of the musical diversity that exists all over the world,” she says. “It’s a kind of research into contemporary folk music, considering a broad spectrum of what we might consider folk today.”

Alif Hilal FADER Mix Tracklist:

goat (JP) & Ricardo Villalobos – “Orin (Ricardo Villalobos Variation)”
Basement Jaxx – “Get Me Off”
Tzusing – “Balkanize”
Loraine James – “Glitch Bitch”
Cio D’Or & Donato Dozzy – “Limone”
James Bangura – “Allthegirls (feat. Farsight)”
Mason & Princess Superstar – “Perfect (Exceeder) (Vocal Club Mix)”
Sepehr – “Bow Before The Sun”
Al Wootton – “Body Healthy”
K-HAND – “Gotta Make You Move”
M.I.A. – “XR2”
Mattias El Mansouri – “Reticulum”
Gesloten Cirkel – “Submit-X”
Surkin – “Ghetto Obsession 2006”
Lechuga Zafiro – “Tero Sex (Danza para piedra volcánica y tero)”
Dinamarca & L-Vis 1990 – “Mario’s Interference”
Peaches – “Rub (Paula Temple Remix)”
Donato Dozzy – “Hypno Trance 9”
Dave Clarke – “Way Of Life (feat. DJ Rush)”
Djrum – “Out of Dust”
Hate – “Human Resources”
Agent Orange – “Give A Little More”
DJ Znobia – “Beat Cursor”
alys(alys)alys – “effervescence”
DJ BABATR – “Lets Do It (te-te)”
DJ Figo – “El-ahly”
DJ BABATR – “Now Shout”