If you've been paying attention to Lalah Hathaway on Instagram, then you might have noticed that she's found another new musical partner to work (and act a fool with) in musician/producer Ariza. The two have shared videos of themselves goofing off and working on tunes, but they also recently shared the result of all that time together with the release of their single "Canvas."
"Canvas" is a unique work that takes advantage of Lalah's beautiful vocal range, starting off nice and slow while taking advantage of her lush, lower tones as she sings about a relationship like it's a work of art. "Paint a desert sky / Of how to say goodbye / To all the premonitions in my mind," she sings. "Watercolored blues / Melting out of you / Swirling all around to make something new."
By the time we get to the chorus, though, the song shifts to a faster tempo as Ariza's beautiful arrangement takes flight with strings and staccato rhythms. Lalah soars along with it, bringing more of the song's beautiful lyrics along for the ride as she sings, "The alchemy of you and me / Is copper into gold / The canvas tells the where and why / Of how the story goes / The alchemy of you and me / Is water into stone / The canvas tells the where and why / Of how the story goes."
The metaphor of love and heartbreak as a masterwork isn't exactly new, but Ariza and Lalah Hathaway come together to make it sound novel and utterly gorgeous. Based on this track and footage of them working on other things, we can't wait to see what else the two artists have for us to hear.
