New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Alicia Keys has announced the title and release date for her long-awaited sixth studio album! Simply named HERE, the follow-up to 2012's Girl on Fire will arrive on Nov. 4 and is available for pre-order on iTunes now. The stunning black-and-white cover features a makeup-free and shirtless Alicia with natural curly hair.
HERE serves as an ode to her hometown of NYC. "This album is so much about life, New York City, us as people, all the stories I saw growing up," Alicia said during a recent appearance on the "Today" show. "It sounds like the New York that I know. It's aggressive, it's raw, it's me being my most truthful...It is such powerful music. You are going to go crazy."
The 16-track set features the single "Blended Family (What You Do for Love)" featuring A$AP Rocky. The song, dedicated to Swizz Beatz' son, Kasseem Dean Jr., celebrates her and her husband's ex Mashonda's "commitment to each other with support and true growth."
"Holy War" is the latest release off her forthcoming album. Over the acoustic guitar based track A. Keys delivers a message to the world: "If war is holy and sex is obscene we've got it twisted in this lucid dream / Baptized in boundaries, schooled in sin / Divided by difference, sexuality and skin," she sings.
Throughout the song's four minutes, Keys is able to explain how boundaries need to be broken for unity to shine.
"We can heal each other and feel each other / We can break these walls between each other / Baby, blow by blow and brick by brick / Keep yourself open," she sings.
HERE is due Nov. 4 - listen to "Holy War" below: