Tori Kelly spoke to NME about her new album ‘TORI’, stating that she finally feels like she is “owning [her] craft” and living her dreams. Last Friday, the singer-songwriter was in London working on the soundtrack for an unnamed TV show. She reminisced about how, four years to the day, she was in the capital for the UK leg of what was supposed to be her first-ever world tour. However, she had to cancel the remaining dates due to the rise in COVID cases in March 2020.
After the worldwide lockdown, Kelly released the R&B-tinged ‘Solitude’ EP, as well as the festive ‘A Tori Kelly Christmas’ album in 2020. She said she was mentally in “a new era” during that time, which has culminated in her highly-awaited album ‘TORI’. Speaking to NME, Kelly said, “I embarked on making this album a few years ago – it’s pretty much four years in the making. After having healed from that, I went into the studio and I’m having fun, experimenting with different sounds and not caring as much about what people think.”
Kelly teamed up with pop polymath Jon Bellion this year, who worked on ‘TORI’ with her, including the liquid drum and bass track ‘Young Gun’. Kelly had told Bellion that her guidelines for the album were to be able to “belt out [songs] in the car” and “dance” to them, which she thinks they “accomplished and a lot more”. Kelly boasts a more sultry and groovy sound on ‘TORI’ that would make you want to dance. She and Bellion were heavily inspired by the late ’90s to early ’00s pop-R&B sound while making the record.
Kelly rose to fame by uploading videos of her singing covers to YouTube. NME asked whether that image of Kelly with big curly blonde hair and her guitar was gone. However, the Grammy award-winning artist replied that that part of her will always be a part of her. She wanted to see how far she could really stretch out and show other aspects of herself.
Now healed, the 31-year-old feels like she has “a new attack on life” and has been giving it her all. She admitted that she’s in a “really cool place” where she’s “super creative and breaking some of those barriers that people have put up” for her. When asked what is next for her, Kelly told NME: “I’m the most in-the-moment I’ve been in my whole career because I do feel like I’m living my dreams. So it’s hard for me to look ahead as I’m trying so hard to soak everything up in the now.”
‘TORI’ will be out next Friday via Epic Records and Beautiful Mind Records. Kelly’s upcoming ‘Purple Skies’ North American tour will kick off on April 12 in Ventura, California. You can pre-save or pre-order the album, and check out all dates and ticket information on her website
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