If you like your R&B a little weirder, step Kelela’s way.
LA-based singer Kelela Mizanekristos may appear to play in the same ballpark as Beyoncé and Rihanna, but she’s signed to Warp Records – better known as the home of techno rule-breakers Aphex Twin and Flying Lotus.
At 34, she’s getting on a bit to be releasing a debut album, Take Me Apart, today – plenty of time to have developed a disorientating, idiosyncratic sound with the help of producers and co-writers Arca (known for his work with Björk), Ariel Rechtshaid (Haim, Vampire Weekend) and Romy Madley Croft of The xx.
Kelela herself has been on the cusp of serious attention for a while, first releasing a much-praised mixtape, Cut 4 Me, in 2013, and more recently appearing on acclaimed albums by Gorillaz, Danny Brown and Solange Knowles.
Her new songs are subtle pleasures, fluid vocals resting on woozy synths and understated beats. Though the latest single, LMK, has racked up over 800,000 YouTube views since August, even its alien bass tones make it a hard sell for a mainstream hit.
No matter – she’s doing something more interesting than chasing the charts.
Nov 29, Heaven, WC2 (0844 847 2351, heaven-live.co.uk)