Santigold has unveiled her latest single “Nothing” along with a video short inspired by Kenyan-American visual artist Wangechi Mutu. The track marks the third offering from her first album in six years, Spirituals, arriving in September.
“Nothing” is a deceptive title for the singer-songwriter’s incredibly substantive effort. Santigold revealed in a statement that she used the lyrics to “release a heaviness that I did not know I was carrying” in the heat of the Black Lives Matter protests, and related that feeling to a sense of “invisibility.” “Being Black and being a woman, particularly one who has chosen the creative path that I have chosen, I have always felt invisible to a degree,” she said. “People see only what they think they know, or what they think I should be. Or sometimes, they see nothing at all. This song is about the burden of existing beneath a veil of nothingness, and the strength it requires just to be, despite it.”
The single also came with an update to Santigold’s upcoming “The Holified Tour,” which kicks off in October. South African rapper-singer Sho Madjozi has been announced as support on every date for the 19-date North American trek. Grab your seats today via Ticketmaster.
A music video directed by Frank Ockenfels pairs a trimmed version of the song with a visual that draws its inspiration from the Wangechi Mutu image “Snake Eater.” Santigold previously starred in Mutu’s 2013 video piece “The End of Eating Everything” and admitted the idea for the avian art display in the “Nothing” visual came to her “years ago.”
“I loved the idea of a being that is woman but also beyond human in some way, and even unclassifiable. A being for whom there is no name, no category, who is totally unique, and fierce,” she explained. “I wanted to become this type of creature in this video because I don’t believe we have to know how to name or define what we’re seeing to accept that it exists, that it’s beautiful and powerful and worthy of being exactly what it is. How exciting to encounter a being so magnificent that it is beyond our imaginations. How exciting to find that that beast is living within you and to set it free.”
Stream the single and full visual below.
Spirituals drops on September 9th via Santigold’s own label, Little Jerk Records. It follows the previous singles “Ain’t Ready” and “High Priestess” and will feature the likes of Rostam, Boys Noize, SBTRKT, and more. Pre-orders are ongoing.