Moor Mother Releases New Album ‘Black Encyclopedia Of The Air’ Today
The Philadelphia-based artist Moor Mother – AKA Camae Ayewa – has digitally released her critically acclaimed new album ‘Black Encyclopedia Of The Air’ today, her first for ANTI- Records. Listen to the album and pre-order vinyl and CD, set for an October 22 release, here. Moor Mother is a holographic figment of an Afrotopian dream, all at once goddess and warrior, mystic and cyborg, griot and future time traveler, etching noisy pieces of reverie into our consciousness.
In honor of today’s album release Moor Mother has shared a double video for the album tracks “Made A Circle” and “Mangrove”. Directed by Bob Sweeney and shot in Brazil, the clip highlights the juxtaposition of the brighter “Made A Circle” and the dark, moodier track “Mangrove”. Watch it here.
“Moor Mother’s talent for creating layers of dynamic, textural noise to complement the music and lyrics never leave a track feeling hollow, instead lending each one a sense of perpetual cosmic expansion,” said Paste Magazine of her new songs. Ayewa also recently spoke with Pitchfork about the album’s ability to simultaneously explore themes of racial strife and female trauma while also being her most accessible music to date.
Recorded at home in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic, ‘Black Encyclopedia Of The Air’ is the work of Moor Mother and soundscape artist and producer Olof Melander. Extra beats and ideas from their collaboration on the project jazzcodes turned into a document more beautiful and exploratory than the initial compilation of cast-off songs they’d intended. As with any Moor Mother release, a multitude of instruments and voices flocked to the ether to create something strange and unknown, a time-travelers guide to the modern world.
This fall Moor Mother will be performing internationally, including shows at Los Angeles’s Getty Museum on September 27 and at Pitchfork Music Festival London on November 12. All upcoming dates are listed below.
TOUR DATES
9/19 – New York, NY – The Kitchen
9/21 – Kings County, NY – OPEN AIR: Moor Mother & Rena Butler
9/27 – Los Angeles, CA – Getty Museum
10/6 – Philadelphia, PA – Philly Music Fest
10/20 – Lausanne, Switzerland – Casino de Montbenon
10/30 – Los Angeles, CA – Redcat/CalArts Theater
11/12 – London, UK – Pitchfork Music Festival London