Kelela Details New Album new avatar and Shares “linknb”

Kelela is moving quickly again. After returning last month with “idea 1,” she has now confirmed that the song opens new avatar, a full-length due this summer and her first album since 2023’s Raven. The new project includes features from PinkPantheress, Fousheé, and A. K. Paul, and today she’s unveiled another single, “linknb.”

Like “idea 1,” the new track is produced by Oscar Scheller, whose recent run has made him a central figure in the current wave of sleek, internet-shaped pop. On “linknb,” Scheller builds around a tightly wound, high-activity guitar line that recalls Mk.gee’s wiry style without fully copying it. Kelela meets that tension with clipped, clear phrasing, delivering one of the song’s sharpest lines: “It’s not hard to be brave / Easier to give too much away… All I know is that I paved the way, underpaid.” It lands less as a throwaway lyric than a career statement, especially from an artist whose influence on experimental R&B and pop has often exceeded the credit she receives in mainstream conversations.

The single arrives with a video directed by Mischa Notcutt.

new avatar tracklist:

01 “idea 1”
02 “point blank”
03 “goin down”
04 “outta time” (feat. A. K. Paul)
05 “against me”
06 “crystalize”
07 “retaliation lullaby”
08 “linknb”
09 “don’t piss me off”
10 “new life forms” (feat. Fousheé)
11 “the bridge” (feat. PinkPantheress)
12 “if we meet again”

new avatar arrives 7/10 via Warp.

By Neva Wireko