Aja Monet is returning with a new album, the color of rain, due May 22 via drink sum wtr, which expands her surrealist, jazz-rooted approach into something even more fluid and politically charged. The announcement arrives alongside “elsewhere,” a hazy, groove-forward standout featuring Georgia Anne Muldrow, Meshell Ndegeocello and Novena Carmel, plus a Jesse Boykins III-directed video (see below).
The track was born out of an unexpected moment in the studio following the death of Sly Stone, whose spirit looms large over the finished product. “Meshell told me to go home and write something not in memoriam but in homage,” monet said. “The next day we started working on the song and it was like he was in the room with us. Everything came together in divine timing. I had already reached out to Novena Carmel and also Georgia Anne Muldrow but they both responded the same day and joined us. The song reminds me of our love for one another and the portal of possibility.”
The new album was co-produced by monet with Ndegeocello and drummer Justin Brown. Guests include Ambrose Akinmusire, Nico Segal, Mick Jenkins and Vic Mensa. It’s the follow-up to her 2023 debut LP, When the Poems Do What They Do.
Ahead of the color of rain, monet will unveil new music during a May 20 performance at Zankel Hall in New York. She also makes a guest appearance on Dua Saleh’s upcoming Ghostly International album Of Earth & Wires, due May 15.
→ Continue reading at Spin
