Kehlani shares cinematic video for new single 'Altar'

Kehlani has released a new single and accompanying music video, ‘Altar’, after announcing details of her third album ‘Blue Water Road’.

The singer confirmed the new record in a tweet on Tuesday (September 14) where she also shared a trailer for the album, which will follow 2020’s ‘It Was Good Until It Wasn’t’.

The post confirmed that the new album is set to arrive “this winter” and was captioned “welcome to my world.”

The video for ‘Altar’ features much of the imagery shown in the album teaser, showing Kehlani with a bloody and bandaged leg, and later dancing around a house in the countryside. “So I put you on the altar, stay just a little bit longer/ Laid it out for ya’, thought I felt you before/ Now you’re closer,” she sings on the track.

Watch the full clip below.

 

Earlier this year, Kehlani discussed the idea of privilege while coming out as a lesbian. “Wanna know what’s new about me?” the singer asked in an Instagram Live video alongside photographer Jamie-Lee B. “I finally know I’m a lesbian.

“I think a lot of artists who we talk about and say, ‘Oh, they had to come out or they had to do this,’ a lot of them can’t hide it,” she said. “A lot of it is very [much] in how they present. It’s tougher for them. It’s tougher for trans artists. It’s tougher for Black gay men. It’s tougher for Black masculine gay women.”

The singer was also called on by Nicki Minaj with a view to working on new music together alongside a number of other artists last week, including Jhené Aiko.

Kehlani’s second album ‘It Was Good Until It Wasn’t’ came out last May. In a three-star review of the albumNME wrote: “It’s understandable for an artist to want to change their sound, but the problem with ‘It Was Good Until It Wasn’t’ is that it loses sight of the sheer brilliance Kehlani has demonstrated on previous releases.

“The dark and sexy new songs shine their brightest when coated with a layer of her previous sparkle; which makes the artist’s second album a fine but frustrating release.”