Wednesday is the lowest point of the week, the lull between the get up and go you manage to muster on Monday and the long, slow climb to the halcyon days of the weekend. And Wednesday afternoon is truly the lowest point of the lowest day. Luckily, Kelela has saved us by announcing a new album chock full of remixes and startling musical mutations. Thanks, Kelela!
One year on from the release of her iconic debut, Take Me Apart, Kelela is celebrating her anniversary in a way only she knows how, by announcing a revamped, remixed salute to her original record. Take Me A_Part, The Remixes, produced by the artist herself and longtime collaborator Asma Maroof, is due 5 October and features a veritable buffet of delicious guest features, including Princess Nokia, Kaytranada, Junglepussy, CupcaKke, Gaika, Rare Essence, and Ms. Boogie, to name but a few.
“This project has been evolving in my mind since I was deep in recording Take Me Apart”, explains Kelela. “I obsessed over production choices on the album and my only solace was knowing that the songs would be reimagined in this way. So it’s not just a bunch of remixes, it’s how my worldwide community of producers and DJs communicate through difference. It’s also about the camaraderie that we experience when we find the overlaps.”
“The same songs get to exist in these alternate realities which means different people get to have a relationship with the music. Maybe even with each other.”
LMK, Kelela’s breakout banger from Take Me Apart, is fittingly the first song to be released from the new album. Reimagined as bassier, buffer, bossier and generally more tenacious, the track becomes more than a bop, but a ladies-only party full of savage bars and renewed rhythms, with Princess Nokia, Junglepussy, CupcaKke and Ms. Boogie joining in the fun. You can listen to the LMK rework here (your Wednesday afternoon will thank you, trust us).