Last June Yaya Bey released Do It Afraid, an album that sought escape from dire times. This April the Brooklyn-based alt-R&B artist will return with its “companion record” Fidelity, an album that documents what unfolds when those dire times are inescapable. Bey lures you into that journey with today’s lead single “Blue.”
With soon-to-be seven albums’ worth of vulnerable, narrative songwriting in Bey’s catalog, Fidelity “reflects on what it means to be a Black artist when pain becomes spectacle, commodity and expectation.” Per a press release, album’s title is derived from the “ultimate Black skill” of staying “religiously joyful” when the universe seems insistent on ensuring the opposite. Backed by a pared-down, neo-soul instrumental, “Blue” — simply put — is about having faith in the world in those moments.
See Michael Grant’s lyric video for “Blue” below along with the Fidelity tracklist.
TRACKLIST:
01 “Me And Mine” (feat. Samantha G. & Anastasia Antoinette)
02 “The Towns (bella noche pt. 2)”
03 “The Great Migration”
04 “Forty Days”
05 “Higher”
06 “Dream Girl” (Lexapro Mix)
07 “Freeze Flight Fawn”
08 “Slot Machines” (feat. Deem Spencer)
09 “Simp Daddy Line Dance” (feat. Exaktly)
10 “As The Ocean”
11 “Blue”
12 “Cup Of Water”
13 “In The Middle”
14 “Egyptian Musk” (feat. NESTA)
15 “The Breakdown”
16 “Who Are You”
Fidelity is out 4/17 via Drink Sum Wtr.
