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Jul 13, 2022 By Joey Arnone Photography by Frank Ockenfels

Santigold has shared a video short for her new single, “Nothing.” It is the latest release from her forthcoming album, Spirituals, which will be out on September 9. View the Frank Ockenfels-directed video and listen to the full song below.

Santigold states in a press release: “‘Nothing’ is a song I wrote about invisibility. It’s a song for anyone who has not been seen, and for me it was an opportunity to explore how that feels. I wrote ‘Nothing’ in the midst of the Black Lives Matter protests, and in writing the lyrics I was able to release a heaviness that I did not know I was carrying. Being Black and being a woman, particularly one who has chosen the creative path that I have chosen, I have always felt invisible to a degree. People see only what they think they know, or what they think I should be. Or sometimes, they see nothing at all. This song is about the burden of existing beneath a veil of nothingness. And the strength it requires just to be, despite it.”

She adds: “This video vignette was inspired by a Wangechi Mutu image called ‘Snake Eater.’ I had seen the image years ago and when I was thinking up visual ideas for this song, this piece came to mind. I loved the idea of a being that is woman but also beyond human in some way, and even unclassifiable. A being for whom there is no name, no category, who is totally unique, and fierce. I wanted to become this type of creature in this video because I don’t believe we have to know how to name or define what we’re seeing to accept that it exists, that it’s beautiful and powerful and worthy of being exactly what it is. How exciting to encounter a being so magnificent that it is beyond our imaginations. How exciting to find that that beast is living within you and to set it free.”

Upon announcement of the new album in June, Santigold shared the song “Ain’t Ready.” Her previous album, 99¢, came out in 2016.

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