News

Kele Okereke streams new song Grounds For Resentment

• 7th Aug 2017

Kele Okereke today announces a UK tour for the autumn and shares his new song Grounds For Resentment, which features Years & Years’ Olly Alexander and is available to stream and download now. The lilting, soulful duet sees Kele and Olly singing about a romance from two different perspectives and is the second song to be lifted from his forthcoming album Fatherland, due 6 October via BMG Music.

In a recent webchat for The Guardian, Kele spoke of the song, saying: “I remember reading something that [Olly] wrote about the use of pronouns in pop music for gay artists that I thought that was very perceptive and intelligent – that the use of pronouns was the last frontier for gay artists. There are lots of gay acts that avoid using the term he when singing about same sex desire. It will just be a neutral term, whereas Olly understands from what I read that there is a long way to go for gay musicians in being able to describe love and desire authentically. So I was very happy to sing a romantic duet with him on my album because I couldn’t think of a precedent of any out gay musicians singing a love song to one another without having to hide behind codes.”

For his third solo album, Kele has stripped away the adrenalised electronics of his two previous records to produce his most open and honest body of work to date. From intimate folk to rousing soul, Fatherland’s organic palette and more classic instrumentation help the depth of his lyrics to truly come to life. Typically pointed and personal, the album was written as Kele squared up the prospect of fatherhood – his daughter Savannah was born in December 2016 – and was produced by Bloc Party bassist Justin Harris in Portland, Oregon with expert musicians largely drawn from Portland’s underground music scene.

Kele today announces a 10-date UK tour in support of Fatherland for October. See below for the full list of dates. Tickets are available now.

Monday 16 October – Deaf Institute, Manchester
Tuesday 17 October – The Cluny 2, Tyne & Wear
Wednesday 18 October – Saint Luke’s, Glasgow
Friday 20 October – The Chapel, Leeds
Saturday 21 October – Arts Club Loft, Liverpool
Sunday 22 October – O2 Institute 3, Birmingham
Tuesday 24 October – Ramsgate Music Hall, Ramsgate
Wednesday 25 October – Islington Assembly Hall, London
Thursday 26 October – Rialto Theatre, Brighton
Friday 27 October – Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth