Mykki Blanco announces new album with Kelsey Lu collaboration "French Lessons"

"French Lessons" featuring Kelsey Lu follows Mykki Blanco's May Diana Gordon and Sam Buck collaboration "Your Love Was a Gift", and is accompanied by a Felix Kalmenson-directed video. The single version released today (12 July) features Kelsey Lu, but the album version will also feature ANOHNI.

Mykki Blanco said, "The song is a reflection on the possibility of true love, on the notion that one truly can experience what we see in the Hollywood films. The song is also this ode in a way to Lou Reed. I'm not what I would consider a singer at all, I'm a talk singer so I look to people in history who have that same style: Tom Petty, Jonathan Richmond of the Modern Lovers, Lou Reed - these are all AMAZING ‘talk singers’ and I feel comfortable in that style vocally. The song was originally composed by FaltyDL and it encapsulated so much sonically of what I was trying to articulate with my own music. FaltyDL has a way of touching on the spiritual subtleties of life. He is able somehow to create mystery out of banality, to create tranquility and fill a room with zen-like vibrations, something unnameable and yet so familiar a feeling."

They added of working with Kelsey Lu, "Kelsey Lu, I'm sure will go on to become one of the legendary artists of my generation. A classically trained virtuoso with a voice that sounds ancient like a bell ringing for the first time, like something out of a Greek odyssey. I have been a long-time super fan of Kelseys and collaborating with her on this song has been a very special moment for myself and FaltyDL."

As well as releasing "French Lessons" today, Mykki Blanco has announced their forthcoming album Stay Close To Music, which is made up of songs written in Lisbon, Paris, New York, Chicago and LA over the past few years. Other songs from the same sessions appeared on Mykki Blanco's 2021 mini-album Broken Hearts & Beauty Sleep. Stay Close To Music will also feature March's "Family Ties", which featured R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe.

Tracklist:

1. Pink Diamond Bezel
2. Steps (feat. Saul Williams and MNEK)
3. French Lessons (feat. ANOHNI and Kelsey Lu)
4. Ketamine (feat. Slug Christ)
5. Your Love Was A Gift (feat. Diana Gordon)
6. Family Ties (feat. Michael Stipe)
7. Your Feminism Is Not My Feminism (feat. Ah-Mer-Ah-Su)
8. Lucky
9. Interlude
10. Trust A Little Bit
11. You Will Find It (feat. Devendra Banhart)
12. Carry On (feat. Jónsi)
13. French Lessons [Single Version] (feat. Kelsey Lu)