The team-up with MNEK and Saul Williams serves as the latest preview of their upcoming album, 'Stay Close To Music', the follow-up to 2021's 'Broken Hearts & Beauty Sleep', due out on October 14 via Transgressive.
Unfolding around the swell of an orchestra and calming piano, it follows the previously unveiled collaborations French Lessons with Kelsey Lu, Your Love Was A Gift featuring Diana Gordon and Sam Buck, and Family Ties with Michael Stipe. Discussing the new track, Blanco explained:
"I think a song like Steps is a testament to what can happen when three very unique artists are given time to create a meditation together – to respond to one another when the moment is right – almost like the lines of a haiku – maybe ‘Steps’ is a prayer unique in its ability to transcend and transform and provide peace without necessarily providing an answer.
"In many ways Steps symbolises a pointed progression in my songwriting. I think as a songwriter I was not always willing to be so vulnerable. I finally feel I have lived enough, lived long enough and lived through enough to speak simply, plainly and find in the zen-like simplicity something honest and true and pure. Steps is written as a diary entry to myself. It is naked in its delivery and it functions much more as a poem than a pop song.
"There are certain people I have waited to collaborate with my entire career and Saul Williams is one of those people. In many ways, there is a musical lineage that Saul is a part of, that he himself spearheaded, that I feel a very close connection with. I remember sitting in his beautiful home in Laurel Canyon California having lunch with him and his wife and thinking about how blessed their place felt, so much history on that land. I kept thinking about how the music of David Crosby was such a huge inspiration for so much of my own songwriting and sonic sensibilities on 'Stay Close To Music' and here I was with someone I looked up to having a wonderful conversation, learning about everything Saul had going on, his new film, his first time working as a director, concerts he was doing with the LA philharmonic, just a creative polymath and he was so charming, and excited and at peace.
MNEK is a musical powerhouse, composing some of the best dance music of the last decade not only for himself but a slew of other pop stars. The voice, the talent, the songwriting, MNEK is truly a force to be reckoned with and is such a stand out artist I was truly nervous when I reached out to him to collaborate. We met in his home in London. I think this was key to understanding if there was a vibe, if we felt the energy between us could coalesce in a natural way. So much of what has made 'Stay Close To Music' so important is the time involved, the time that was natural and not forced and allowed for such peace and such organic collaborations. It is so rare that artists are allowed this time, it is so rare that artists are given this much space."
Blanco will support the record with a headline European tour beginning in late October, with UK dates following in November and December.
Mykki Blanco Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows
Tue October 25 2022 - PARIS Petit Bain (France)
Wed October 26 2022 - BRUSSELS Atelier 210 (Belgium)
Thu October 27 2022 - AMSTERDAM Bitterzoet (Netherlands)
Sat October 29 2022 - HAMBURG Kampnagel (Germany)
Tue November 01 2022 - COPENHAGEN Loppen (Denmark)
Wed November 02 2022 - BERLIN GRETCHEN (Germany)
Sun November 06 2022 - PRAGUE Meet Factory (Czech Republic)
Mon November 07 2022 - HEIDELBERG Kulturhaus Karlstorbahnhof (Germany)
Tue November 08 2022 - ZURICH Rote Fabrik (Switzerland)
Sat November 12 2022 - FRANKFURT Mousonturm (Germany)
Mon November 14 2022 - COLOGNE CBE (Germany)
Mon November 21 2022 - BARCELONA La Nau (Spain)
Tue November 22 2022 - MADRID La Casa Encendida (Spain)
Wed November 23 2022 - LISBON Music Box (Portugal)
Tue November 29 2022 - LONDON Heaven
Fri December 02 2022 - BRISTOL Trinity Centre
Sat December 03 2022 - DUBLIN Lost Lane
Sun December 04 2022 - GLASGOW Garage (G2)
Mon December 05 2022 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE Cluny
Tue December 06 2022 - MANCHESTER YES (The Pink Room)
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