We were really missing our girl Kelela during the five years she stayed away from the spotlight. Thankfully she's back and better than ever, dropping her singles "Washed Away" and "Happy Ending" for our enjoyment over the past two months. Now we know that there's much more coming as the songstress has announced her sophomore effort Raven and dropped the set's third single "On The Run" today.
For "On The Run," Kelela collaborated with a quartet of producers — Yo van Lenz, Bambii, Asmara and Kaytranada — to craft a sound that is reminiscent of her own previous work but with a slightly more elevated feel. It begins with just Kelela's voice against the sound of echo-y synths. Soon the sound bed expands to include drums and vocal samples that put us in the mind of dancehall. And then, just when we think we know exactly where the song is going, we hear traces of Kaytranada's signature in the mix before it all morphs once again to the song's final climax.
Lyrically, the singer is once again attempting to reach out and touch someone who's being distant in the romance department. "Open up, babe, to the sun / Open up, babe, we ain't done / Come out and touch the rays," she sings on the song's refrain. "Open up, babe, I'm the one / You stay on the run / But I'm onto you, onto you, onto you, baby." She comes even bolder by the time we get to the chorus, letting it be known that, "I don't wanna wait / But you know I'm all the way down / When you come my way / I'ma want that fire."
Based on what we've received so far, Raven is going to be an experience. When dropping the album's cover (which you can see above) on Instagram, the singer promised that her new set will be "a 15 track deep-dive into facets of dance music that have always excited me." The party starts when the album releases on February 10th, but anxious Kelela fans can pre-order it now. Before you do that, though, check out "On The Run" right here and then stick around to see the Raven's full tracklist.
Kelela RAVEN tracklist:
1. Washed Away
2. Happy Ending
3. Let It Go
4. On The Run
5. Missed Call
6. Closure
7. Contact
8. Fooley
9. Holier
10. Raven
11. Bruises
12. Sorbet
13. Divorce
14. Enough For Love
15. Far Away
