On April 29, Kehlani released their third studio album, blue water road — a softer follow-up to Kehlani’s second studio album, It Was Good Until It Wasn’t.
blue water road features recently released singles, “altar,” “little story,” and “up at night” featuring Justin Bieber. The 13-track album also features collabs with Blxst, Syd, Jessie Reyez, Thundercat, and New Orleans’ own, Ambré.
According to Kehlani, blue water road was meant to be a deluxe edition to their second studio album, It Was Good Until It Wasn’t, but the singer felt it had a much deeper meaning and needed to be its own project. “blue water road is a destination in my mind,” Kehlani explained in a recent interview with R&B Now Radio for Apple Music. “I’m giving everyone access. It’s an emotional journey, a sexual journey, and a spiritual journey. To me, the album is like a glasshouse. It’s light, transparent, and the sun is shining right through it.”
Kehlani also revealed the inspiration behind the project. “I actually started the album down the street on Blue Water Road at this house,” she began. “It was an Airbnb that we got for a recording trip that was supposed to be for the deluxe of my last album, and then I left and had a big spiritual — I don’t want to say experience — but I went to a couple ceremonies and came back, and it was just completely different to me.”
Watch Kehlani’s interview below!
Ambré, who joined Kehlani on the recording trip, took to Instagram to rave about how much “fun” it was to watch and be a part of the making of the album. “Keh got a house in malibu and told all the homies to pull up,” Ambré wrote in the caption. “we made some of the best music and most importantly we had the time of our lives. it was a set up in every room but it wasnt like no industry camp for real it was all gang and everybody hopped on everything it was love.”
Ambré definitely spread their talent across blue water road. Not only are Ambré’s vocals featured on the album’s last track, “wondering/wandering,” but they are also singing background vocals on “get me started” and co-wrote the songs “wish i never” and “altar.” All of which are fire AF.
If you’re unfamiliar with Ambré, this isn’t the first time their talents have been featured on a mainstream project. Ambré co-wrote “Water” off of Kehlani’s last album, It Was Good Until It Wasn’t, and has also written for the likes of H.E.R. and Chloe X Halle. In 2019, Ambré was nominated for three Grammys and won Best R&B Album for their work on H.E.R’s self-titled, debut album.
Peep the full tracklist and check out bwr below:
1. little story
2. any given sunday ft. Blxst
3. shooter interlude
4. wish I never
5. up at night ft. Justin Bieber
6. get me started ft. Syd
7. everything interlude
8. more than I should ft. Jessie Reyez
9. altar
10. melt
11. tangerine
12. everything
13. wondering/wandering ft. Thundercat and Ambre
Stream: blue water road