R&B darling of the LA-based Fade to Mind label Kelela has shared the first cut off of her forthcoming Hallucinogen EP. Produced by Arca, “A Message” has been in the works for some time, originating from a meeting between the two artists in the summer of 2012, when they “sought one another out across the dancefloor” onboard some unnamed boat “floating on the Hudson River.” The track features smoky vocals that drift across abstract spaces, apparently “[speaking] to the despair that [Kelela] was experiencing at the time.”
Premiered today on i-D (the fashion / contemporary culture arm of Vice), “A Message” is accompanied by a video directed by Daniel Sannwald, that explores Arca’s themes of form and dual-personality through the exposition of Kelela in skewed close-up angles and tinted colors. Towards the end, the video also observes the singer cutting her dreads, as she becomes swathed in cartoonish strings of light.
Hallucinogen is set for release on May 5, barely a month after the deluxe reissue of Kelela’s Cut 4 Me mixtape. Preview the tracklist after the jump.
1. A Message
2. Gomenasai
3. Swoop
4. All the Way Down
5. Hallucinogen
6. The High
Article by Jay Kwok