Kae Tempest announces new album ‘Self Titled’
Poet, author and musician Kae Tempest returns with his fifth studio album, Self Titled, set for release on July 4th.
The album will include 12 tracks, which will explore Kae as an artist. However, the work will also strip back the layers of the industry to reveal Kae as a person beneath.
Tempest has collaborated for the first time with Grammy-winning producer Fraser T Smith on the album. Smith is behind Adele and Stormzy’s success. The result is a liberated genre fusion that reconnects Kae with his hip-hop roots while paying homage to contemporary pop.
The album’s first single, ‘Statue In The Square,’ was released in March. Tempest’s fast flow delivers a raw, rhythmic track. The accompanying video was filmed in Deptford, London, and features key community voices, including Princess Julia, Joelle Taylor, Sweatmother, Debbie Smith, and Dr Ronx.
The collaborations on Self Titled don’t stop there. For his fifth offering, Tempest has ensured a stellar line-up of features. Guest appearances include Neil Tennant, Young Fathers, Connie Constance, and Tawiah.
Tempest has released a single, ‘Know Yourself’, alongside news of the album. Tempest says of the single, “I love this song. It samples a lyric I wrote years ago, where my younger self is talking to their younger self. A dialogue between selves across time, in real time. Or maybe I could put that simpler – When I was young I sought help from my older self. I came into my head, I told me know yourself.”
Tempest has an impressive list of prizes under his belt. His book Brand New Ancients made him the first person under 40 to receive the Ted Hughes Award in 2013. Kae also won the Ivor Novello Award for ‘Best Contemporary Song’ in 2024, following two previous Ivor Novello nominations in 2020 and a BRIT Award nomination in 2018. Kae has been shortlisted for the Mercury Prize twice.
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