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Kelela bares it all in her new video for “A Message,” a track off of the singer’s forthcoming HALLUCINOGEN EP, which is set to release on May 5.
Directed by Daniel Sannwald, the visual takes a minimalist and raw look at Kelela by playing with different kinds of lights. For most of the clip, we see the Washington, D.C. native standing without wearing much at all, singing directly to the viewer.
Not only does light and dark play into the visual, but it brings in a blue tone that eventually highlights Kelela in the act of cutting her own hair. An anime scene the appears, in which we see her being torn into two beings that reunite by the end of the clip.
In a statement, Kelela revealed her inspiration for the “A Message” video.
I met Alejandro [Arca] on a boat in August of 2012. We sought one another out across a dance floor and within 5 minutes agreed to meet each other as soon as possible to collaborate. I had one song released to my name and had just heard one of his mixes, but we knew we’d found something in one another. We spent the next three days, 14 hours a day talking about our artistic visions and how it intersected with our personal lives, making songs that reflected that while dancing around the room to let it all out. About 5 or 6 demos were born out of these three days.
“A Message” is one of the demos that came from those sessions and it speaks to the despair that I was experiencing at the time. The initial version of the song spilled out of us in about 25 minutes. Since then, it’s been like a sculpture that I’ve come to and refined over time, adding a lyric here, refining a melody there, adding a bridge, etc. It’s a process that is now finally complete with its release and I’m so happy that I finally get to share it with all of you.
While she preps her new EP, the singer will also be performing at this year’s SXSW as well as select European dates in May.
