Source: Scott Legato / Getty
You could call Kelela Mizanekristos somewhat of an enigma. Because aside from the few arias she elected to lend between now and Hallucinogen (see: Danny Brown’s “From The Ground,” Solange’s “Scales,” Gorillaz’s “Submission”), her existence has been nebulous.
“I guess the pursuit for me was about having three boxes checked,” she told Zane Lowe of Beats 1 on Tuesday. Those three boxes, as she explained, are songwriting, sound design, and vocal production—all of which she, along with longtime collaborators Arca and Jam City, meticulously honed for her forthcoming debut opus, Take Me Apart.
https://twitter.com/Beats1/status/892414132875649024
Perhaps this is why it’s been so long since fans have received new solo material, despite the album reportedly being done since last August (per a backstage interview during 2016’s Afropunk in Brooklyn, the album had just entered mixing stages). “I’ve been working on this project for four years,” she shared with Lowe. “My vision has manifested itself.”
And if previous interviews are any indication of what to expect, Take Me Apart is as much of a come-on as it is an expression of vulnerability, reflection, world observation—and an invitation to understand her identity within each of these contexts. “Inside information suggests that her new album will continue to mine the depths of sex, while also incorporating more explicitly political material,” Complex reported in January. The album’s lead single, “LMK”—which finds the siren humming about uninvolved, no-strings fornication—is an apt precursor.
Listen to “LMK” below. Take Me Apart is out on Friday, October 6 via Warp Records.
Take Me Apart Tracklist:
1. Frontline
2. Waitin
3. Take Me Apart
4. Enough
5. Jupiter
6. Better
7. LMK
8. Truth Or Dare
9. S.O.S.
10. Blue Light
11. Onanon
12. Turn To Dust
13. Bluff
14. Altadena
