Kelela returns with new single, "idea 1"
Kelela has released her new single, "idea 1", her first release since her 2025 album, In The Blue Light.
"idea 1", produced by Oscar Scheller (PinkPantheress, Lily Allen), introduces a new sonic and visual direction for Kelela. The track is accompanied by a video directed by 1 Rules (Erik Saltzman and Cameron Tidball-Sciullo), serving as an allegory for a woman moving from her breaking point to rebirth.
Speaking about the song, Kelela says: "'idea 1' is about what it feels like to exist in this climate — the weight of being expected to witness, absorb, and speak truth at a time when the world feels like it's unraveling. That's a particular kind of burden Black women know intimately. This song doesn't offer answers, it just refuses to look away. Co-writing it with my best friend Janiva Ellis, hearing Oscar's production give it shape, and then watching 91 Rules bring that tension to life visually feels like the beginning of a much larger conversation I'm ready to have."
"idea 1" is out now on Warp Records
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