Emel Mathlouthi announces new album & tour, shares "Rescuer"
Tunisian-born, New York-based Emel Mathlouthi recently released the stunning single “Footsteps,” her first song sung entirely in English, and it blew us away so much that we named her upcoming album one of our most anticipated before it was even announced. Now, Emel has finally announced the album, titled Everywhere We Looked Was Burning, and she released another new song, “Rescuer.” This one (and most of the album) is also sung entirely in English, and it’s another breathtaking dose of atmospheric art pop. “The world needs rescuing, right?,” Emel asks. “We need to rescue our senses because they’ve been hurt. They keep us from being completely evil. They let us awaken by poetry and art. They connect us to each other and make sense of our purpose. This song is like dawn where you can start seeing the first rays of light. It’s a moment to revive power.” Listen and watch the video (directed by Alessandra Leone) below.
Emel says the decision to write an album in English was inspired by living in New York, discovering the “essential imagery” of poets Rainer Maria Rilke, T.S. Eliot, and John Ashbury, and “thinking back to how music in English was so important to me growing up.” She recorded the album in Woodstock, NY with producers Steve Moore of Zombi and Ryan Seaton (who’s worked with The Body, Grooms, Here We Go Magic, and others), and she completed the album with sessions in London with Ash Koosha and France with Karim Attoumane and Amine Metani. The album was mixed by in-demand mixing engineers Chris Tabron (The Voidz, Yeasayer, Little Simz, Nicki Minaj, etc) and Marta Salogni (Holly Herndon, David Byrne, Let’s Eat Grandma, The xx, Bjork, etc). It comes out September 27 via Partisan.
Emel is also playing shows in Portsmouth, Montreal, Toronto, Detroit, Chicago, and NYC shortly after the album is released, and she’s promising that more dates are TBA.
The NYC show happens October 14 at Le Poisson Rouge. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (6/21) at 10 AM. All dates are listed below.
Tracklist
1. Rescuer
2. Footsteps
3. Womb
4. Wakers Of The Wind
5. Merrouh
6. This Place
7. A Quiet Home
8. Ana Wayek
9. Does Anybody Sleep
10. Everywhere We Looked Was Burning
Emel Mathlouthi — 2019 Tour Dates
Sat-Sep-28 Portsmouth, NH @ TBD
Sun-Sep-29 Montreal, QC @ Pop Montreal
Mon-Sep-30 Toronto, ON @ Baby G
Tue-Oct-01 Detroit, MI @ Deluxx Fluxx
Wed-Oct-02 Chicago, IL @ Old Town School of Folk
Mon-Oct-14 New York, NY @ le Poisson Rouge
