Kelela Announces Winter Tour Dates and Will Perform at Governors Ball and Coachella This Summer
Kelela is back to announce a string of winter tour dates. Following a run of Australian shows with The xx, Kelela will perform in several major East Coast markets including Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and New York with more dates to be announced soon. In addition to the tour dates, Kelela is set to perform at Governors Ball and Coachella this summer.
News of the new tour dates follows a breakout 2017 for Kelela, which saw her release her highly anticipated debut album Take Me Apart via Warp Records to critical claim and adoration from fans. The project was included in a multitude of year end lists, ranking #4 on Pitchfork's list, #17 on Complex's, #8 on Noisey's, as well as being included in the Los Angeles Times' list of essential LA albums. Standout tracks "LMK," "Frontline," and "Take Me Apart" were featured in best songs of the year lists from The New York Times, The FADER, and Pitchfork.
"Kelela remains ambitious and distinctive on her first proper album, offering unshowy yet modern production alongside emotionally complex lyrics that spare neither her partner nor herself from her high standards," compliments Pitchfork. "Hovering slow-motion anticipation alternates with ecstatic rushes as Kelela offers a late-night tryst. The lyrics' aquatic imagery parallels sounds that could come from underwater," writes The New York Times of "Take Me Apart." Says Complex, "This album, despite hinging on vulnerability, also makes you feel completely fucking sexy and alive." Writes Noisey, "Take Me Apart - throbs with an intensity that carries you from a post-breakup talk in your now-ex's apartment, to the car, to the club, to your bedroom when you entangle yourselves in each other's limbs again. It was more than worth the wait." Kelela doesn't mince words when it comes to describing her musical aim. "I was [searching] for the place between Björk, Sade, and Beyoncé," she told EW this year. "She found it and more on Take Me Apart," says Entertainment Weekly.
Find full tour routing and read more about Kelela below, and stay tuned for more from the artist in 2018.
Year End Lists:
Pitchfork Best Albums (#4)
Dazed Best Albums (#6)
Vulture Best Albums (#7)
Pitchfork Best Songs for "LMK" #26 and "Frontline" (#9)
The BBC Best Albums (#10)
Billboard Best Albums (#11)
Entertainment Weekly Best Albums (#11)
Consequence of Sound Best Albums (#11)
DJ Booth (#16)
Complex Best Albums (#17)
Crack Best Albums (#21)
The FADER Best Songs for "LMK" (#24)
Stereogum Best Albums (#26)
Brooklyn Vegan Best Albums (#27)
Uproxx Best Albums (#38)
Stereogum Best Videos for "Blue Light" (#43)
Los Angeles Times Best LA Albums
New York Times Best Songs
Playboy Most Underrated Albums
Variety Best Albums
Tour Dates:
1/13 - Melbourne, AU @ Sidney Myer Music Bowl (w/ The xx)
1/17 - Brisbane, AU @ Riverstage (w/ The xx)
1/19 - Auckland, NZ @ The Studio
1/20 - Sydney, AU @ The Domain (w/ The xx)
2/19 - Milan, IT @ Teatro Principe
2/22 - London, UK @ Roundhouse
2/23 - Bristol, UK @ SWX
2/26 - Boston, MA @ Royale
2/27 - Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of the Living Arts
3/1 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
3/2 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
4/13 - Indio, CA @ Coachella
4/20 - Indio, CA @ Coachella
6/1-3 - New York, NY @ Governors Ball