This morning Solange announced a release date (and much more) for her long-awaited third studio album, A Seat at The Table. It will be the singer’s first release since her 2012 EP True. It’s also the first of her own records she’s release via Saint Heron, the record label she established in early 2013. A Seat at The Table comes out on September 30th, and we can hardly wait. Here’s everything we know about the record so far.
The Cover…
All of the album imagery was shot by Spanish photographer Carlota Guerrero, who Solange has had a relationship with for some time. The homepage of her website — www.solangemusic.com — is a spread of Carlota’s photographs, which change every time the page is refreshed. A great deal of the imagery was shot at the Tate Modern. A month ago, the photographer shared a snippet of a short video of Solange dancing; we can now safely assume it’s a music video from A Seat at The Table.
The Tracklist
Solange shared the entire tracklist minutes after releasing the cover art. It features from Sampha, Kelly Rowland and Lil Wayne, plus up-and-comers like Moses Sumney, a friend of the artist. Kalela and Dev Hynes, both close with Solange, will also appear on the 21 song album.
The Writing
Solange wrote the entire record herself: the process of perfecting it all has taken three years. In 2015 she told Billboard that this time around she’d approached the writing process differently, explaining: “I’ve been sitting at the piano, figuring out chords and building songs from my story with my voice being the epicenter. Before this, I’d start singing and build songs from there. It’s taking longer this way but it’s a really exciting process.” At the time, she said she’d finished 23 song, but was “weeding out” certain tracks. There is also a digital book of poetry — or perhaps lyrics — on her website right now, to accompany the album. It carries the same name as the record, A Seat at The Table. Read it here.
Credits
Photography Carlota Guerrero