Kelela has shared news of her upcoming album ‘New Avatar’ with new single ‘linknb’ – check out all the details below.
The R&B singer will soon return with her third album, which is set for release on July 10 via Warp Records (you can pre-order/pre-save here). Following the release of ‘idea 1’, she’s shared the second taste of ‘New Avatar’ with the Oscar Scheller-produced ‘linknb’, which is described as the next step in Kelela’s latest era.
Written during an intense period of writer’s block, the track began as a mantra Kelela wrote to pull herself back into the work: “It’s not hard to be brave/ Easier to give too much away/ All I know is that I paved the way, underpaid.”
‘New Avatar’ revisits her R&B roots, blending distorted guitars with dance music, and also features collaborations with PinkPantheress, A. K. Paul, and Fousheé.
“This album finds solace in confronting,” Kelela said of the upcoming record. “I don’t want the music to be a distraction from what’s really going on in the world; I want it to make sense in this crazy moment while helping people get in touch with the beauty and joy they’re also experiencing.”
The ‘New Avatar’ tracklist is:
01. ‘Idea 1
02. ‘Point Blank’
03. ‘Goin Down’
04. ‘Outta Time’ (Feat. A. K. Paul)
05. ‘Against Me’
06. ‘Crystalize’
07. ‘Retaliation Lullaby’
08. ‘linknb’
09. ‘Don’t Piss Me Off’
10. ‘New Life Forms’ (Feat. Fousheé)
11. ‘The Bridge’ (Feat. Pinkpantheress)
12. ‘If We Meet Again’
While it will reckon with a world “coming apart at the seams”, she went on to say: “People also need to know that my friends and I are laughing constantly and that humour isn’t a defence mechanism; it’s an expression of how sharp our read is and how clearly we see the world.”
It comes after Kelela followed up her 2017 debut album ‘Take Me Apart‘ with sophomore album ‘Raven’ in 2023, which scored a four-star review from NME. “In a debut album which was all about breaking down,” it read, “‘Raven’ reminds us of what it means to be put back together.”
She then went on to share ‘RAVE:N, The Remixes’, which was described in a statement as “a transcending fusion of mashups and sounds, reimagined from the original ‘Raven’ album alongside her musical partner in crime Asmara.”
It included wide range of collaborators including Shygirl, Yaeji, Liv.e, BbyMutha, LEECH and others.