Feb 02, 2023
By Mark Redfern
Photography by Lucie Rox
Petite Noir has announced a new album, MotherFather, and shared a new song from it, “Blurry” (which features Sampa the Great), via a music video. MotherFather is due out April 14 via Warp. Hector Aponysus directed the “Blurry” video. Watch it below, followed by the album’s tracklist and cover art.
Petite Noir is the half-Congolese, half-Angolan, South Africa-raised artist Yannick Ilunga. He’s currently based in Paris and London. MotherFather features “Simple Things,” a new song Petite Noir shared back in November that was one of our Songs of the Week. In 2022 he also shared the album’s “Numbers.”
In 2018, Petite Noir released the mini-album, La Maison Noir / The Black House, via Roya. His last full-length album, La Vie Est Belle / Life Is Beautiful, was also his debut and it came out in 2015 via Domino.
Ilunga had this to say about the single in a press release: “‘Blurry’ is a song about growth in love. Being ready to take that next step whether it means being together or apart. Sometimes the best thing you can do is just move forward with your life solo. Choosing you above all.”
Sampa the Great adds: “I felt so honored to be able to work with Petite Noir. I’ve looked up to him and his music for a while and I’m truly inspired by his courage in paving the way for alternative musicians in Africa who feel like they don’t fit into one genre or one style.”
A press release says that MotherFather has a subtitle: “The darkness is comforting sometimes.”
Ilunga further explains: “It’s about going through the darkness. But it’s also about rebirth. Because the dark times are needed for us to grow.”
Also read our 2015 Pleased to Meet You interview with Petite Noir.
MotherFather Tracklist:
01. 777
02. Blurry (feat. Sampa The Great)
03. Numbers
04. Concrete Jungle
05. Skit
06. Finding Paradise
07. Simple Things (feat. Theo Croker)
08. Best One
09. Love Is War
10. Play
