Kelela returns with first new single in nearly five years "Washed Away"

"Washed Away" is accompanied by a Yasser Abubeker-directed video shot in Ethiopia's Danakil Depression, and marks Kelela's first new material since 2017's Take Me Apart album.

Kelela says, "I love a banger, but for the first point of contact out of my hiatus, it felt more honest to lead with an ambient heart-check."

She adds, "I specifically want to speak to marginalised Black folk and highlight the work we do to find renewal in a world that’s built to make us feel inadequate. This song is the soundtrack to the relief we find after going inward."

Although "Washed Away" is Kelela's first new material since her 2017 debut album, in 2018 she did release Take Me A_Part, The Remixes.