Vagabon (aka Lætitia Tamko) released a new self-titled album via Nonesuch. Earlier this week she shared one last pre-release single from the album, “Every Woman,” via a video for the track. Lino Asana directed the video, which features Tamko in a clear bubble house and out in nature.
Tamko had this to say about the song and video in a press release: “‘Every Woman’ is the thesis of my album so I wanted the visuals to represent transparency and to create a world for this thesis statement to live inside of. It’s an ode to all those who feel different and who actively search and fight for space. When I was approached by Cameroonian filmmaker, Lino Asana, I was really, really excited to work with an artist from my country. There was this immediate understanding of one another. So many scenes of this video feel reminiscent of my early life in Cameroon, the chores I would do as a kid, the way we lived simply and humbly. The bubble displayed in this video represents an invitation to find yourself in this world.”
Previously the album was titled All the Women in Me and due out September 27th, but in August Tamko announced that the album title and release date were both changing. Also, the album’s first single was originally titled “Flood Hands” but was then changed simply to “Flood” and another track from the album had a title change from “All the Women” to “Every Woman.” The lyrics for both songs were also changed. This was all because a poet wouldn’t give Tamko her blessing to reference her work in the songs.
“My original album title and two lyrics were inspired by and referenced poetry by a writer I greatly admire, Nayyirah Waheed,” Tamko said in a previous press statement about the changes to her album. “When I learned that she preferred I not quote her words, I made changes out of respect for her wishes.”
Vagabon is Vagabon’s second album, the follow-up to her 2017-released debut Infinite Worlds, and is her first for Nonesuch. Tamko wrote and produced the entire album herself. “Flood Hands” (or “Flood” now) Then she shared another song from the album, “Water Me Down” as well as a stylish video for the song.
In a previous press release Tamko set the scene for where she was at prior to recording the new album: “I was in a pretty tortured headspace when I returned home from touring Infinite Worlds. That album contained some of the first songs I’d ever written, and more people than I could have ever imagined heard it. I was proud to become a full-time musician and recognized how rare of a thing that is, but was also debilitated by the very same fact. Fear overtook me and I couldn’t write. I felt stagnant and unsure of what to do next.”
Unlike Infinite Worlds, Vagabon has less of a straight up indie rock guitar sound, with more electronic textures. “With this album, I wanted to impress myself,” Tamko said in the previous press release. “I wanted to be curious and I wanted to make big leaps as a producer. All I had access to on the road was my computer and Logic, so naturally I started writing songs electronically with what was at hand.”
Tamko added: “The drums and vocal forward approach I took on [Vagabon] is drawn from my love for rap and hip-hop production as well as R&B and folk storytelling. That’s the music that got me excited about writing again.”
