British indie musician Kele has announced his new album. The Waves Pt. 1, his fifth album as a soloist, will come out on 28th May 2021. The news comes alongside the release of Bronski Beat cover Smalltown Boy, the second single from the album after The Heart Of The Wave was released earlier this month.
Speaking on the album, Kele said: “In the rare moments of down time I would go up to my music room and play the guitar, looping myself, making this wall of sound. It became a type of therapy for me, something to calm me down as it seemed like the whole world was losing its head.. After ’2042’ I knew that I wanted a break from writing words.”
“Although making that record had been rewarding it had also at times been quite traumatic for me, as I was forced to examine a lot of my own personal fears and anxieties about race relations in this country and the US. I made ‘2042’ in 2019, so when those same discussions about race came into sharp focus after the death of George Floyd in 2020 I personally felt that I needed a break from the heaviness, I knew that whatever I did next musically would need to cleanse me.”
Kele, also known as Rowland Kelechukwu Okereke, rose to prominence as the frontman of band Bloc Party. After the band went on hiatus in 2009, he released his first solo album The Boxer in 2010. Bloc Party reformed in 2011, went on hiatus again in 2013, before finally reuniting once more in 2015. Kele continued to release solo albums, with the release of Trick in 2014, Fatherland in 2017, and his latest album 2042 in 2019.
From April 2020 to March 2021, Kele posted frequent videos performing his original songs or covers. He also released single Melanin in July 2020, posting: “Melanin is a song that questions the idea of race and education in Britain. I believe that if we truly want to dismantle the racial division in this country then it starts with the education system.”
