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DAYBREAKERS back diggin’ deeper for DBR007, shining light on one of house music’s most underrated, James N Tinsley aka The Nathaniel X Project. The Resurface EP brings together two lost moments from 1993 alongside two brand new recordings from 2025 — the same spirit, three decades apart, all previously unreleased.

Back in the early 90s, Nathaniel X was crafting stripped back, deep house with a real feeling. Raw drum machines, deep chords. The kind of records DJs held onto.

The 1993 cuts carry that untouched energy, made at the same time as his self titled EP. Direct & deep. Fast forward to 2025 and nothing’s really changed. The new tracks continue where he left off. That signature Nathaniel X sound.

House that was always deep.

Buy or cry.

The Rhythm Of Nature’ is the stunning new masterpiece from Andy Compton (The Rurals) and Shamrock!

Written between Andy’s tours in South Africa and Shamrock’s extended UK trip in the summer of 2025, this album embodies their shared mission: to spread positive, joyful vibrations with LOVE.

Here, Soul, Jazz, and African music blend seamlessly through the talents of these two cosmic brothers, connected deeply by their love of making music.

When Andy and Shamrock jam and record, music flows so freely, creating a powerful, spiritual energy.

This follow-up to their 2023 debut album, Soul & Spirit — which still touches hearts worldwide — includes magical songs like ‘Bunny Chow’ and ‘Rosa Mziki’, originally created in Johannesburg and previously released on the Bunny Chow EP, Along with super fresh, unheard gems.

The album also features incredible musicians such as Nekoye Ommeh (Vocals), Pete Morris (Keys), Bongani Sessionist (Percussion), Kafele Bandele (Trumpet), and Charlie Hearnshaw (Sax), adding their magical energies to the soundscape.

Allow yourself to experience the full journey, feel and enjoy every note!

DJ DUCH's debut EP is a sonic time machine that transports listeners straight into the Y2K aesthetic, celebrating the unique optimism and rawness of the turn of the millennium. The Wroc?aw-based digger, publisher, and producer- the era's sound by building the entire production foundation exclusively on samples from Polish tracks of that time, giving the release a distinct local flavor. In doing so, DJ DUCH proves that domestic recordings from the late 90s and early 2000s still possess immense potential to fuel modern dancefloors.
The project is rounded out by a broad and surprising list of guests whose vocals add a multi-dimensional character to the whole. The EP features appearances by Renata Lewandowska, rapper Eldo, Cezary Ostrowski (known as Bexa Lala), as well as Nath and Kacha from the duo Coals.

The Messier Objects returns with the second release on their label containing ten new tracks from the new TMO alter ego ‘Messier One.’ The work combines nostalgic IDM, eerie ambient and dreamy dub techno into one mini-album, inspired by the brute forces of nature and the power of healing and regeneration.

Expect to feel the force of nature on the A-side, where tracks such as ‘Earth’s Signal 04’ and ‘The Greatest Ebb Current’ contain distorted and fuzzy pads, eerie and vague echoing vocals, and whitenoise patterns that somehow feel strangely calming. Together with the broken drum patterns on tracks such as ‘Who Do You Worship?’, and the distorted kicks on ‘Kaalo Asmi Loka Kshaya Kritpraviddho’, the A-side manages to create crude IDM and ambient patterns – resembling historic natural events as if you were there yourself.

On the B-side. the noisy and broken patterns from the previous six tracks are replaced with warm and meditative sounds. ‘Two Tides’ is filled with soothing arpeggiated soundscapes and echoing voices, and the organic jungle chants and mythical vocals in ‘Rebuilding Temples’ further continue the process of regeneration. The B-side is accompanied with two remixes from Messier808 (known from the first release), who brings his typical meditative 4x4 patterns to the table, accompanied by dreamy textures, cyclical melodies and illusive effects from a now ‘healed’ society.

This thoughtful release brings a complete story told in only ten chapters. As always, their releases are backed by breathtaking artworks using vibrant and organic colours, completing an intriguing mini-album.

Turn On The Sunlight is the long-running project of Texas-born, Maui-based musician and producer Jesse Peterson.

Originally formed in New York in the late 2000s, Turn On The Sunlight has evolved into a fluid, location-spanning practice rooted in collaboration, intuition and process. Now based on Maui, Peterson’s work draws together a wide network of musicians and environments, with recordings taking shape across Los Angeles, Tokyo, London, San Miguel de Allende and Haʻikū.

Loosely situated within a framework of organic, ambient-leaning jazz, 'Iseo' unfolds as a series of open, exploratory pieces, with electronics sitting subtly beneath acoustic and environmental elements. Built from layered instrumentation including synthesizers, guitar, zither, flutes, voice and field recordings, Peterson moves between grounded, tactile detail and more expansive, immersive states. A sense of warmth and permeability runs throughout: organic percussion, environmental textures and drifting rhythmic elements lend the record a gently saturated humidity, reflecting Peterson’s base in Hawaii, where the presence of nature is felt as much as it is heard.

Underlying the project is a way of working rooted in gathering, listening and tending. Instruments, ensemble sessions, field recordings and everyday environments are approached with attentiveness, shaped through collecting, refining and allowing things to settle. Relationships, landscape and lived experience shape the sound, giving 'Iseo' a tactile, almost hand-made quality.

Rather than fixed arrangements, the album feels as if it has been organically and lovingly assembled through a process of listening and response, each element finding its place within a wider, evolving whole. This approach reaches a natural centre point in the 15-minute piece 'Medianoche En La Calle Aurora', which unfolds patiently, bending through shifting environments as motifs and textures emerge and dissolve with quiet continuity.

Peterson’s role as both instigator and facilitator is central to the project. Bringing together a diverse group of collaborators including Carlos Niño, Mia Doi Todd, Laraaji, Ko Ishikawa, Luis Pérez Ixoneztli and Miles Spilsbury, he creates space for individual voices to emerge within a shared language. The result is a music defined by openness and generosity.

'Iseo' takes its title from Peterson’s son’s middle name, a word that can be understood to mean ‘one-world life’. The piece itself takes the form of a gentle lullaby, its melody loosely shaped around the syllables of his name and sung to Peterson’s son by Luis Pérez Ixoneztli, a close collaborator whose presence across the record reflects a long-standing relationship that extends beyond the music itself.
Sleeve art and design by Michael Willis.

Antuni (translated from Armenian as “homeless”), Margenrot’s third album, was created over five years. It is a personal statement about fragility, vulnerability, and the search for grounding in a world where conflict has become part of everyday life. Antuni is a genre of gusan song (gusans were Armenian folk singers and rhapsodes) – a story told by a homeless, eternal wanderer, exiled and deprived of homeland.

The album’s title also refers to the melancholic ballad Antuni (“The Song of the Wanderer”) by the Armenian composer, folklorist, and monk Komitas. This work was dedicated to the victims of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Lusia’s new album is about national identity and inner wandering – between contempo- rary wars and deeply personal, existential experiences. She asks an urgent, personal question: “What is my home, and where is it?”

The album weaves together traditional Armenian chants and chorales with electronic music and field recordings. Breakbeat is layered with conversations between Lucy’s relatives about the fading village of Naokhrebi (an Armenian village in Georgia), while samples of Komitas’ liturgy, recorded in a Catholic church, contrast with fractured rhythms.

‘White Series #4’ marks the debut EP of Marc Feldmann and Dominik André as a producer duo. The record opens with ‘Natural Oscillation’
, a hypnotic techno piece where flowing percussion meets subtle trance influences. ‘A Breeze of Mistral’ builds on this energy with layered repetition and a deep pulse that unfolds gradually, drawing the listener further in. On the flip side, Audrey Danza reinterprets Natural Oscillation with a direct, dancefloor-focused approach. She sharpens the groove, raises the tempo, and pushes the track forward with her signature, driving drums and a tightly locked kick, transforming the original’s hypnotic flow into a no-frills cut. The EP slows the pace with ‘Discernible Rhythms’, a reflective, 80s-influenced synth chugger that adds warmth and restraint to the record. Released as a hand-stamped white label on Subject To Restrictions Discs, White Series #4 reflects and continues the label’s contribution to the more understated forms of electronic club music.

Rigetto is a natural reflex of expulsion, and it is from this concept that the label is inspired.

Founded by DJ and producer CUT, aka Luca D'Elia Fiorenzano, Rigetto is a personal and direct space where sound becomes a silent way of exposing oneself. More than a defined genre, it is an attitude: a techno free from rigid structures, influenced by human movement, interaction, and the surrounding sonic matter, where elements of techno, ambient, and natural soundscapes meet and transform.

The first release, Rigetto 01, represents the starting point of this path: a first statement of intent that introduces the label's sonic identity, made of essential rhythms, subtle tensions, and immersive atmospheres where sound becomes a physical and perceptual experience.

While self-proclaimed "garage and jackin' house" revivalist Marc Cotterell has developed his Plastik People label into a fine outlet blessed with an ever-growing family of artists, he still maintains a steady release schedule of his own. The British producer is naturally in good form on his latest Plastik People missive. Check first opener 'Take Your Time', where breezy piano stabs and deliciously soulful vocals ride a squelchy bassline and loose-limbed garage-house beats, before admiring the more "trad" soulful house flex of the gorgeous and lightly funky 'Mysterious Ex'. Over on side B, 'Feed The Soul' is a string-laden slab of revivalist New Jersey garage-house goodness which doffs a cap to the early 1990s, while 'This Life Living' re-casts Jill Scott r&b classic 'Golden' as a rolling soulful house delight.

Shrouded in mystery when it first appeared, Tiger & Woods’ debut album quickly took on a life of its own. With little more than whispers surrounding the project, the music spoke loud enough: a set of extended disco constructions carefully tuned, remixed, over-dubbed, sliced and diced by the elusive duo of Larry Tiger and David Woods. What began as a cult phenomenon soon caused a stir across dance floors and record bags worldwide.
Now, for the first time ever, that legendary debut finally arrives on vinyl. Through the Green captures Tiger & Woods at the moment their distinctive language of groove first took shape. Rooted in the spirit of disco edits but already stretching beyond the format, the album blends loop-driven funk, house-leaning propulsion and the unmistakable bounce that would soon become their signature.
It’s the sound of two producers refining a craft that would later blossom on albums like On The Green Again, where their approach expanded into a wider palette of boogie, electronica, Italo and uptempo house. But here is where the story begins.
Before world tours, live sets and the creation of their own T&W Records imprint, there were these tracks: hypnotic, playful and engineered with a dancer’s instinct for tension and release. Each cut unfolds like a perfectly extended club moment, full of warmth, swing and that unmistakable Tiger & Woods sense of fun and function.
Years after its original digital release, Through the Green remains a cornerstone of modern disco-house culture. Pressed to wax at last, it finally receives the physical format it always deserved: grooves built for the turntable, the dance floor and the crate.
The mystery might be gone. The magic, however, remains very much intact.

May 2026 marks the arrival of TYGAPAW (aka Dion McKenzie)’s first full-length album on Tresor Records, entitled Together You Gather All Power Applied Worldwide. An acronym of its creator’s name, TYGAPAW’s third studio album is a deeply personal collection of music building worlds where Black queer and trans siblings can thrive, while unifying dancefloors worldwide. A proposition that collective wisdom liberates us from the matrix of domination we live within. The album unfolds as the latest chapter in TYGAPAW’s ongoing techno opera opus, continuing to center the voices of Black women, which surface as layered incantations rather than lyrics - powerful, haunting, sensual, activating.
With the process of creating the album starting in 2023, as TYGAPAW (Dion McKenzie) was in the first year of their transition, the music reflects the intensity of that period, where they were experiencing deplatforming as a response to the shift in their physical appearance: Tracks like ‘M32 Riddim’ and ‘Helicopter hovers over my Crown Heights Apartment’ feature high-paced rhythms intersecting with intense siren-like synths to form demanding compositions echoing a heightened sense of alert. Yet throughout the album, relief comes in the form of TYGAPAW’s vocal features, co-conspirators, and chosen family, whose voices are treated with reverb and echo, a sonic fingerprint that leads back to the pioneers in the legendary studios of TYGAPAW’s native land, Jamaica, an important reminder that the past will always inform the future. It is an album for dancers first and foremost, where joy, defiance, and integration with the natural body coexist, and every drop feels less like a climax than a transformation. Expect a bass that permeates your soul and melodic synthesized sequenced phrases echoing the dancehall eras of TYGAPAW’s youth, reshaped into hypnotic melodies that glow over industrial kicks designed to command attention, reasserting Jamaica's pioneering yet often overlooked contribution to electronic music.
In the opening track, ‘Can I Live’, Precious Okoyomon’s words feel like the beginning of a ritual; setting the intentions for the rest of the proceedings. As McKenzie puts it, their “work is about regeneration, resetting, getting integrated into nature, and about rebirth. That’s the tone I wanted to set at the outset of the album.” Ms Carrie Stacks continues this thread of support in ‘Don’t Panic’ with heavily processed vocals on top of a beat that takes inspiration from another important ingredient in the antidote to the oppression of isolation: Ballroom culture. “ I feel like I found my queerness in Ballroom, that’s why this track is very important to me.”
Echoes of NYC Black queer nightlife scene also permeate in the energetic drums of ‘Exorcise the Language of Domination’, in which Julianna Huxtable’s spoken performance complements the various movements and tones of the music. “My producer brain thought this was the one that Juliana’s vocals would be best suited for. I hinted: ‘what do you think of this one?’ She just went into her notes and picked some passages to go with the first section of the track. From there, it was a year-long process of development. It required time and space for this thing to evolve, but I think it’s one of the most powerful tracks on the album.” London’s SUUTOO contributes the album’s only musical collaboration on ‘B2B’, a track that emerged from sessions in McKenzie’s New York studio where the real objective was to connect and have fun; a time out from the demands of life outside.
The album closes out with a double hit of emotion in the form of ‘Effects of Resistance and Black Trans Masculine Experience’. The former features South African scholar Khanyisile Mbongwa drawing connections that exist between Africa and the Black diaspora, whilst looking to the future and calling for a shared sense of community.
The latter piece, an instrumental version of the piece which featured on the IMMIGRANT E.P. of 2025 is a gentle and deeply affecting end to the record, a place of peace and acceptance. This end-of-cycle tone is mirrored in the sleeve photography, which also ties back to IMMIGRANT by finally revealing what was hidden: a portrait of the artist fully self-actualized; a step towards true inner liberation. TYGAPAW is sonically defiant across this album; bass frequencies feel tactile — less heard than inhabited — infectious lead synth melodies remain with you long after the track ends. An overall sound that leaves asserting an urgent need for connection. From Detroit to New York to Berlin to Jamaica, despite geographic distance, this album reminds us that we remain in solidarity, recognising that meaningful world-building requires collective input and action, both personal and communal, if we are to move toward liberation.

Following his ‘You Are the Music’ EP for Euphoric State, and the reissue of the underground classic ‘Voices’ by Jewellery, David Inglesfield returns with a second EP by PersistentRain – and the first release on his own label, Precipitation.

‘All Time Is One’ is a meditation on the passing – yet continuity – of time, whether across multiple decades, or just in the transition from one day to another.

Opening track ‘Farewell’ brings disparate voices and sounds from the past back to life in an intense, transcendent journey, all driven by a pulsating bassline.

‘The Night Is Done’ features a solid beat and lush array of synths, with the vocal by Bristolian Christine Hulbert the icing on the cake.

On ‘This Place (Displace)’, Inglesfield, a Londoner from birth, but recently moved to South Wales, turns to consider a corner of his beloved native city, where a once-legendary musical theatre was swept away, to become a makeshift car park in the 1960s, then the site of a brutalist block in the 1970s, now torn down yet again. ‘The first place we’re going to stop at … seems to be NOWHERE!’

‘I Remember’ closes the EP, with fragments of Fender Rhodes and strings fluttering like memories over a moody, minimal sub-bass and insistent kick.

Original Sufferhead beginnt mit einer minimalen Improvisation mit Felas neuer Band Egypt 80 und steigert sich dann zu einer kühnen, komplex strukturierten Afrobeat-Hymne, die die Situation der Massen in Nigeria anprangert. "Lasst uns zusammen ein schönes Lied singen", schlägt Fela vor, während der Refrain parallel zu der lebhaften Melodie seines Saxophons erklingt. Mit Hilfe des Refrains zählt er dann die Probleme auf, die das Volk plagen: keine Wasserversorgung, exorbitante Lebenshaltungskosten, keine Gesundheitsversorgung, zweistellige Inflationsraten. Die "großen, großen Leute" haben das Volk zum Sarg des Staatschefs gemacht: Nach der Plünderung und Verbrennung von Felas Kalakuta Republic 1977 schrieb Fela mehrere musikalische Antworten, in denen er die schuldige nigerianische Regierung direkt angriff, darunter diese traurige Hommage an seine Mutter, Coffin for Head of State. Nachdem seine Mutter an den Komplikationen der Verletzungen gestorben war, die sie erlitten hatte, nachdem sie während des Überfalls auf Kalakuta aus einem Fenster geworfen worden war, trugen Fela, seine Frauen und seine Anhänger den Sarg seiner Mutter zum Eingangstor der Armeekaserne: ein mutiger Akt des Trotzes.

"Coffin For Head of State" ist Felas düstere Anklage gegen diejenigen, die "durch Jesus Christus, unseren Herrn" das afrikanische Volk korrumpieren, bestehlen und berauben. Der wummernde, gleichmäßige Beat und die sich wiederholende Struktur des Liedes ahmen den Marsch zur Kaserne nach, während der Text Felas überwältigende Trauer über den Verlust seiner Mutter und den Zustand seines geliebten Nigerias direkt anspricht: eine Nation von ewig Leidenden. Seid nicht passiv, fordert er: Steht auf für eure Rechte.

Die B-Seite, Power Show, baut auf dem gleichen Thema auf und hebt die Unterdrückung der Massen durch die herrschende Klasse hervor. Der Text handelt von einem reichen Mann in einem schicken Auto, der an den Straßenrand ranfährt, um einen armen, allein reisenden Mann zu beschimpfen. Fela nennt dies die "Power Show" und prangert das Verhalten an. So verhält man sich nicht gegenüber seinen Mitmenschen.

Original Sufferhead war im Box Set #5 enthalten, das von Chris Martin und Femi Kuti kuratiert wurde. Das Album wurde auf opakem, hellgrünem Vinyl neu gepresst und ist untergebracht in einer bedruckten Innen- und single sleeve Außenhülle.

Błoto has never cared much for dominant aesthetics. Instead, the band has consistently chosen paths less travelled, unexplored territories and uncharted routes where experimentation is not so much a conscious decision as a natural state of being. After years of a rather hermetic approach to recording their albums, the time for change has come. A trip to Bucharest and the opportunity to collaborate with the community of musicians associated with the underground label Future Nuggets, led by Ion D, resulted in many hours of recordings, which will be presented by Astigmatic Records in a series of releases across 2026. It opens with a 7-inch vinyl titled Zmiany / Schimbări, recorded in collaboration with Ion D and Plevna.

Caterina Barbieri & Bendik Giske's At Source resounds music as wellspring, that which is essential and unknowable, and yet utterly primary. It finds two acclaimed composer-musicians building a world together in self-contained collaboration between analogue synthesis and an extended approach to the saxophone that conjures its own universe of sound. It is at once intimate and cosmic, drawing on the challenges and possibilities of their artistic exchange, tearing down technique to access all the expansive possibilities of their sonic meeting point.



At Source is a document of the world of sound to be conjured when two artists strive for something together, discovering the expansions and limitations of performance by bodies and machines. It is not an exercise in assimilation, but in productive exchange and creative confrontation. It does not draw on outside energies or influences, but grapples with what there is to find in their respective playing. "It also reflects how natural the collaboration was," says Barbieri, "a meeting at the source which was spontaneous, graceful and natural".



Barbieri and Giske first met and were enthralled by one another's performances at Kunsthaus Glarus in 2019, a meeting that spurred conversations on the power of transitions as a compositional force. Giske later contributed a rework of Fantas for Fantas Variations (Editions Mego, 2021), an ambitious undertaking to rescore Barbieri’s work for his saxophone and voice, a challenge Giske had started undertaking two years prior as an ongoing practice of transcription. “The request came as a proof of aligned ideas”, says Giske.



Their new collaborative project then started during an artistic residency in Milan’s ICA in 2021, by invitation of swiss artist and curator Jan Vorisek, as the world was emerging from lockdown. This meeting, and the preceding closure of sites for cultural exchange, made their work together 'feel like springtime' says Barbieri. Giske, who was on the brink of releasing his sophomore album, Cracks, then joined Barbieri's light-years tour, which functioned as an inaugural incarnation of her newborn label and platform through a series of multi-artist curated shows with appearances of Lyra Pramuk, Nkisi, MFO, among other artists.



Through the tour, they continued to develop material live, and this release, laid down in the studio, is true to that ever-evolving process of creation, where live feedback stays essential to the vitality of this collaborative effort. The tracks are each named with two evocative words that contain the two poles of their sound. Theirs is both abstract and cosmic, in the synth as machine undermined by Barbieri's naturalistic playing, and in Giske's continuous exploration of the symbiosis between his instrument, voice, and body. These binaries, of body and machine, posed various challenges, notably in how the stepped patterns Barbieri uses were near-impossible to translate for Giske's body to perform, and other times where mathematical resolutions were needed to sync their playing. Explains Giske: "It forced me to go to the core of what I am and what I have to offer”. Barbieri says that it "explores the liminality between the machine and the human, and the vulnerability in this process".



At Source is testament to two divergent practices finding a whole cosmos in which to convene; music is crystalised and made utterly enveloping through the focused and critical work of two musicians working at their peak. The versions here are, temptingly, "just one of many versions" of this abundant source material Giske explains. Like the best collaborations, At Source is more than the sum of its parts – bringing more to the feast than the simple combination of two musicians, promising versions upon versions of the exquisite material captured here.

LATCh Records returns with a refined and forward-thinking release, welcoming Vlad Arapasu for a record that captures the depth and versatility of his sound. Moving between techno, house, and minimal, Vlad shapes a collection of tracks driven by groove, detail, and atmosphere—equally suited for the dancefloor and deeper listening.

Malin Genie delivers a dub remix, reworking the original into a more spacious and hypnotic journey, where subtle textures and flow take the lead.

The release is completed with abstract artwork by Adrian Calin, echoing the layered and open-ended nature of the music.

Supported by Rhadoo

Something Very Bad is Going to Happen is a brand new 2026 Netflix horror series produced by the Duffer Brothers, the creative minds behind the global hit Stranger Things. From the Executive Producers of Stranger Things, and the Director of Baby Reindeer, Something Very Bad is Going to Happen is on Netflix from March 26th. Created by Haley Z. Boston.

The music for the series is composed by Grammy Award-winning musician and composer Colin Stetson, renowned for his idiosyncratic use of saxophone in his projects. He has collaborated with acclaimed artists such as Bon Iver, Arcade Fire and The National, amongst others. Scoring Something Very Bad is Going to Happen builds on Stetson's extensive experience in film and game music. He has composed soundtracks for films like the psychological horror Hereditary (2018) and the dark thriller The Menu (2022), as well as the epic Rockstar game Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018). For this series, Stetson delivers a suspenseful soundtrack, perfectly complementing the Duffer Brothers' signature storytelling. A must-have release for fans!

The soundtrack of Something Very Bad is Going to Happen is available as a limited edition on red vinyl and includes an insert.

Fossils in Transit dropping their first EP with diverse club focused features. The label
wants to express their love for timeless pieces and extrapolating it to their own vision.
Brussel based duo Kappen & Latence showing their musical spectrum on the A-side. On
the B-side Ennio Tyson debutes his take on timelessness.
A1 is a warm and slowly building track guiding the listeners through a blissful state. This
percussion driven piece sets the perfect mood for sunrises/sunsets. In A2 the rebellious
nature is defined by punk vocals, an acid bassline and crunchy percussion. Produced for
dark clubs and peak-time slots. B1 ventures into a bass-heavy realm where scattered
perc-like vocals and stabby synths create an ominous atmosphere. Keeping the body in
check while the mind wanders. Closing the EP on B2 with an off-the-wall minimal tech
house roller. Balancing a steady energy level to keep a tight grip on the dancefloor.

Nach der Veröffentlichung von „idea 1“, kündigt Kelela ihr neues, drittes Album an, das am 10. Juli bei Warp Records erscheint – und veröffentlicht die zweite Single „linknb“, produziert von Oscar Scheller.

Der Track entstand in einer Phase der Schreibblockade und begann als Mantra, das Kelela schrieb, um sich wieder an die Arbeit zu bringen. Angeführt von einem labyrinthischen Gitarrenriff über treibenden Metal-Drums ist „linknb“ ein Song über Selbstvertrauen, das man sich durch Schwierigkeiten erarbeitet hat, darüber, sich nicht klein machen zu lassen. „Es ist nicht schwer, mutig zu sein / Es ist leichter, zu viel preiszugeben / Ich weiß nur, dass ich den Weg geebnet habe, unterbezahlt.“

Das von Mischa Notcutt inszenierte Video versetzt Kelela in die Mitte einer urbanen Traumlandschaft. Als enger Freund und Kelelas ehemaliger Kreativdirektor war Notcutt die naheliegende Wahl. Das Video lässt Realismus und Abstraktion ineinanderfließen und verwandelt eine einsame Reise in eine Meditation über Selbstfindung und Erneuerung.

Mit „new avatar“ rückt alles, worauf Kelela hingearbeitet hat, in den Fokus. Sie begann ihre ersten Songs in der Indie-Szene von Washington, D.C. zu schreiben, bevor die Clubmusik und die elektronische Produktion, die ihre frühe Karriere prägten, die Oberhand gewannen. Mit „new avatar“ schließt sie den Kreis: R&B, unterlegt mit verzerrten Gitarrenklängen, trifft auf neue Schnittstellen in der Tanzmusik und gipfelt in einem Sound, der aus all den musikalischen Einflüssen schöpft, die sie je geprägt haben. Das Album enthält zudem Kollaborationen mit PinkPantheress, A. K. Paul und Fousheé.

„Dieses Album findet Trost in der Konfrontation“, sagt Kelela. „Ich möchte nicht, dass die Musik von dem ablenkt, was wirklich in der Welt vor sich geht; ich möchte, dass sie in dieser verrückten Zeit Sinn ergibt und den Menschen gleichzeitig hilft, mit der Schönheit und Freude in Kontakt zu kommen, die sie ebenfalls erleben.“

Das Album setzt sich mit einer Welt auseinander, die aus allen Nähten auseinanderfällt, und mit der Klarheit, die das Überleben erfordert.

„Die Leute sollten auch wissen, dass meine Freunde und ich ständig lachen und dass Humor kein Abwehrmechanismus ist; er ist Ausdruck dafür, wie scharfsinnig wir die Dinge einschätzen und wie klar wir die Welt sehen.“

Im Kern schildert „new avatar“ eine vielschichtige Erfahrung, und obwohl die Außenwelt präsent ist, schwächt sie Kelelas Entschlossenheit zu keinem Zeitpunkt.

About Kelela: Throughout her globally revered, boundary-pushing career, Kelela has established a lane of her own in R&B and electronic music. On her long-awaited third album, new avatar, the singer/songwriter (through the versatility of the guitar) challenges perceptions of these genres, while weaving together fragments of lived experiences to shape a world of connection and resilience during times of unrest.

The songs journey through Black femme rage, joy as resistance, Gotham City-esque dystopia, misogynoir, romantic tension, and more. It’s anchored by production that demands a broader rethink about alternative, rock and indie music.

Kelela’s defiant nature has propelled her so far already — from her hometown of Washington, D.C to world stages. In 2013, she released her debut mixtape, Cut 4 Me. She continued solidifying her revolutionary R&B sound with 2015’s Hallucinogen EP, with The New York Times naming its single, “Rewind,” one of the “25 Songs That Tell Us Where Music Is Going”. By 2017, she released her electric debut album Take Me Apart (which was followed by 2018’s TAKE ME A_PART, THE REMIXES), building upon her intimate storytelling.

After a nearly five-year hiatus, she returned in 2023 with her groundbreaking second album, Raven, and its critically-acclaimed counterpart, RAVE:N, The Remixes in 2024. Raven has been hailed as one of the ‘Best Albums of 2023’ by Pitchfork, Billboard, Vulture, Variety, and more, while the remixes solidified her as a leader in the dance music space.

In 2025, Kelela showcased yet another innovative side of her artistry with her live album In The Blue Light, which hit #5 on the Contemporary Jazz chart and #20 on the Jazz Albums chart. Now, with new avatar, Kelela displays the masterful intention she puts into forming new sonic cityscapes. But don’t confuse it with escapism: “I don't want the music to be a distraction from what's really going on in the world; I want it to help you get into it.”