NEW YORK, Oct 5 — US singer-songwriter Kelela is preparing to release her debut album this week, and on the heels of her well-received mixtape and EP, it’s one of the year’s most highly anticipated. Prepare for the release of Take Me Apart with a Kelela primer.

The background

Kelela was born in Washington DC to Ethiopian parents and grew up in neighboring Maryland. The 34-year-old is now based in Los Angeles, where she moved in 2010 and soon began collaborating with other artists and honing her signature sound.

The sound

Kelela’s hybrid musical style draws from classic R&B, jazz and cutting-edge electronica. She established herself, and her sound, in 2013 with her debut mixtape, Cut 4 Me, in which she adds her R&B vocals to instrumental tracks from the UK dance music labels Fade to Mind and Night Slugs.

The buzz

Two years after her mixtape, Kelela released the EP Hallucinogen, earning praise from music publications and blogs.

Pitchfork called the sound of the EP "a sensuous, sensitive, hi-definition approach to R&B,” writing, "She is a transparent creator, unafraid of tainting the canvases of her mostly male collaborators with the imperfect, vulnerable contents of her brain and heart.” Rolling Stone called the EP "a fully-realized vision from an artist who’s poised for a long and fruitful career.”

The album

All this has set the stage for Kelela’s debut full-length album. Take Me Apart features 14 tracks, three of which are now available to preview ahead of the LP’s release.

The lead single, LMK, got a boost from DJ Zane Lowe, who premiered the electro-R&B track on his Beats 1 radio show. Listen to it here: kelela.fanlink.to/LMK

In September, she released the breakup track Frontline after it premiered on an episode of HBO’s Insecure. Listen here: kelela.fanlink.to/frontline

As of this week a third track from the album, Waitin’, can be heard at: kelela.fanlink.to/waitin

Take Me Apart is due out October 6. Find out more at kelela.co. — AFP-Relaxnews