Kelela returns with new single and video, 'Washed Away': Watch

Kelela has just shared her first new track in four years called ‘Washed Away’. Watch the video below.

Kelela chose to lean ambient for her comeback single, produced by Yo van Lenz, out now via Warp Records. “I love a banger, but for the first point of contact out of my hiatus, it felt more honest to lead with an ambient heart-check,” she said. 

The introspective mood signals the intention of her new project. “I specifically want to speak to marginalized Black folk and highlight the work we do to find renewal in a world that’s built to make us feel inadequate,” Kelela said. “This song is the soundtrack to the relief we find after going inward.”

The ‘Washed Away’ music video is set in the Danakil Depression of Ethiopia’s northern Afar region. It’s directed by Yasser Abubeker.

This is Kelela’s first new track since her 2017 album ‘Take Me Apart’ and its 2018 remix counterpart titled ‘Take Me a_Part, the Remixes’. In 2019, Kelela released an ambient-forward mixtape with Asmara called ‘Aquaphoria’, which showcases her vocals atop the mixed tracks. 

Watch the video for ‘Washed Away’.

Photo credit: Yasser Abubeker