After two years of keeping her fans waiting, Alicia Keys is swinging back with a new studio album.
“With this album, I find I have much more I want to talk about. This album is more about the concept, the thought I’m trying to get across, where in the past it’s been more about the melody. This time it’s more about what we’re going through as human being,” Keys told Women’s Wear Daily.
Alicia Keys says the material on her new album will have something that everyone can relate to, but it particularly carries themes of independence and breaking expectations that others have of us. As a mother, these themes are closer to her heart than ever.
“We all experience similar things. I find that the world puts us in these boxes where we’re only allowed to be one way — like, ‘to succeed as a career woman, you need to do it this way,’ or ‘to be a gay man, you have to be this way.’ First of all, we’re so much more complex than that. It’s about breaking down those boundaries. The songs concentrate on concepts like that. As human beings, we like to identify with something, and as for me, I love people with a strong point of view,” she explained.
I want to learn how to play the piano! When I get up ima have Alicia Keys give me lessons
— Fresh Prince (@JUSTCALLME__DOM) June 29, 2014
Keys herself puts her money where her mouth is when it comes to seeing people for more than others would expect. She is the co-Founder of Keep a Child Alive, a group that provides medicine to children and families in Africa with HIV and AIDS.
She also has developed her own sneaker line with Reebok.
Alicia Keys is a sublime looking creature, some of the mighty creators finest work.
— Leigh McManus (@LeighMcManus1) June 29, 2014
The songwriting process is something Alicia Keys is fascinated by. Sometimes things start one way but end up someplace entirely differently than you expected.
“You come into it with a thought, with an idea, with a melody,” she said. “But you don’t know what you’re going to get, which is the mystery of it. That’s how it becomes something.”
Keys’ new album is as yet untitled and is slated for a 2015 release.
Image via YouTube
