Last month Santigold returned with the single "High Priestess," her first new music since 2018's I Don't Want: The Gold Fire Sessions. Turns out that song isn't a one-off—today, she announced the a new album called Spirituals with another new single "Ain't Ready." The new track, which was worked on with Illangelo, Dre Skull, and SBTRKT, captures steely resolve with tinkering, shifty percussion that pushes against Santigold's high-pitched cries.
“To me, the song sounded full of struggle and perseverance," Santigold said in a press statement. "It sounded like a battle, and I wanted the production to sound tough, to mirror that grit. I struggled to find the right lyrics at first, but when I got them right, and I started singing them one night in my studio alone, I cried. This song was my own battle song. It’s about taking the hits that life brings and getting back up. It’s about change and moving forward. It’s about faith and vision. And it’s about stepping into your own power."
Her fifth full-length will be the first album she releases on her own label Little Jerk Records, with the project coming together in 2020 when she found herself losing touch with her creativity. “Recording this album was a way back to myself after being stuck in survival mode," she continued. "It wasn’t until I made the space to create that I realized I wasn’t only creating music but a lifeline. California was on fire, we were hiding from a plague, the social justice protests were unfolding. I’d never written lyrics faster in my life. After having total writer’s block, they started pouring out. I decided to create the future, to look towards where we are going, to create beauty and pull towards that beauty. I need that for myself, but it’s also there for whoever else needs it.”
Spirituals features a stacked roster of collaborators that includes Rostam, Boys Noize, Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner, SBTRKT, Gayngs' Ryan Olson, and more. Watch the Frank Ockenfels–directed video for "Ain't Ready" below, and pre-order Spirituals ahead of its September 9 release here.
