Kelela’s soulful vocals and warped electro beats are equally suited for both staying in and hitting the club. The new video for “LMK,” the first single off the much-anticipated upcoming album Take Me Apart, is also both self-reflective and extroverted. Strutting through a neon-lit hallway onto a smoky dance floor, the alt-R&B songstress tries on a series of blonde bob and waist-length red wigs before returning to her signature dreadlocks. As ascertained when Kelela premiered the track on Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 show last week, “LMK” is a sweltering summer burner that pushes her 90s-inspired sound even further into the future.
The new video was directed by longtime Björk collaborator Andrew Thomas Huang, who translates Kelela’s many facets into the increasingly revealing sequence of killer club looks. “The message of this video is empowerment: it’s for the girls, for anyone whose heart has been trampled on and deserves to go out and feel good about themselves,” said Huang in a statement. “It’s a call to action, demanding to be taken and to be quick about it. This is the reason why we love Kelela — she’s making herself vulnerable and kicking down doors in the process.”
Kelela has been working on Take Me Apart for over four years, again teaming up with producers including Arca, Jam City, and Bok Bok. It drops October 9 via Warp Records.