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Today, South African-born, NYC/Dublin-based folk-rock musician Tuelo announces her bold second studio album, Regarding My Heart, due out September 27 and available for pre-order now. Alongside the big news, Tuelo shares the cutting title track and its accompanying music video out everywhere now. With her most refined, self-assured sound to date, Regarding My Heart is a sweeping sonic exploration of love, loss and loneliness that allows Tuelo to proudly re-introduce herself as she carves a space in folk-rock that is all her own.
Tuelo will celebrate the new music tonight in NYC with a free show and happy hour at M. Wells (RSVP here). She'll take the stage at The Historic Apollo Theater in NYC on April 17 with tickets on sale here. Also, she'll be performing on April 25 at Debbie's at Dutch Kills in NYC with more information here.
Tuelo's forthcoming cinematic second full-length studio album, Regarding My Heart, brings together her humble beginnings with who she is today–filled with lush textures, dynamic sounds, layered strings, horns and guitars, soaring vocals and intimate lyricism. With its vivid storytelling and unbridled honesty, the project has provided Tuelo with the space to heal, listen to herself and center her voice. Tuelo says, "This album has been the way that I could explain a life I thought was over. It has been the way I could explain a love I thought could be the only one. I could be silent. After many years of fear as a migrant alone, I had a story to tell, and when it came to my heart I needed to remind myself that I am deserving of some kind of love." Beginning with one central song and building from there, Tuelo crafted a resonant glimpse into her heart from different perspectives. On her unique songwriting process that generates dozens of songs, Tuelo shares, "With 'Regarding My Heart,' I began to write over 70 songs that are called songs and shadows, which is a particular songwriting process I came up with of one core song followed by additional songs inspired by and answering back to this main song in different ways to include nuance in a journey."
Tuelo says the album is, "by the lonely for the lonely. It's about holding on to every ounce of peace, patience, pace, and the rhythm of the world." Interspersed between the tracks are chant versions and towards the end, piano versions that offer alternate takes on the original versions while paying homage to Tuelo's roots. Across three continents, the project's expansive sound was brought to life with help from multi-GRAMMY® award-winning producer (Album of the Year, Best Rock Album) Robbie Nelson, guitar producer Kirk Schoenherr, longtime collaborator Kevin Wenzel and features backing vocals from Tuelo's sisters.
The title track, out today, encompasses a life in its entirety–the love, loss and lessons learned. It was the making of this song that ultimately served as the catalyst for the making of the album. Tuelo shares, “'Regarding My Heart' is a life-long journey of a song: a release, a reflection, a pacing of the story of love and loss." The artist's South African roots influence all facets of her artistry, as Tuelo shares, "It allowed for us to build a specific sound that reflects my particular way of song that I always compose from: my wailing vocal style with cinematic sounds and Etherial guitars, all rooted in my chanting culture."
On the track's subject matter and its universal, relatable quality, Tuelo says, "The song shows that in a ubiquitous world there lives a person in solitude, with a fascination for adventure, fantasy, and big dreams of great love. That is me. That would be 'Regarding My Heart.' That might be you.”
Built around the track's central theme of loneliness, its accompanying music video directed and edited by Kevin Wenzel brings viewers into an opulent dining room where Tuelo is grievously setting a table for guests. After inviting guests in, Tuelo finds herself all alone. The artist says about the eerie visual, "The video is simply setting a table with no one coming to the party. It is the ritual of breaking bread and preparing for guests with no one to be in community with or to share burdens. I like the video because the annunciation is just a little awkward and makes you watch differently – even to be slightly bothered by it. It is beautiful but haunting and slightly off. More than anything it is the empty room, the ghost of friends, the nothingness, the lonely person we see.”
Shot on iPhone to cultivate its personal, intimate atmosphere, Wenzel adds, "We took it as a creative challenge to limit ourselves with space and equipment to see what we could create that would help to tell the story of the song, but still give the song the space to live and breathe on its own. The slow motion singing gives it a strangeness and also a calmness that hopefully allows you to sit in the song and in the world of the video.”
Watch "Regarding My Heart" (Official Music Video)
With distinct, sharp vocals and a genre-bending, singular sonic approach, Tuelo has established herself while carving a space in music all her own. Tuelo's debut album, The Life of Margaret Cornelius, arrived in 2022 and was praised by several leading tastemakers like NPR and The Recording Academy. Describing Tuelo's music with an exclusive performance on their segment Positive Vibes Only, the Academy shared, "Infectious drums, powerfully stacked vocals and guitars that rip through the song are all common practice for the uncommon experience that is listening to Tuelo." In support of the release of her 2017 EP Saint Margaret, The Huffington Post called Tuelo, "New York's best singer (and the world's)" and said, "Sometimes a singer just comes out of nowhere and makes you question everything you ever listened to before. When you finally hear it, you know." Consequence praised the EP's intimate title track, stating, "The track ['Saint Margaret'] is a warm and simple bit of revival folk. Tuelo sings her mother’s praises over slow guitars and a gentle synth.." Tuelo's striking vocals caught the attention of AFROPUNK who called the musician's performances, "an inspiring and spiritual experience carried by the singer’s powerhouse vocals."
Tuelo was raised in rural South Africa in a large family and a close-knit community amid the tumultuous political landscape of apartheid. It was this environment that directly informs her artistry today, as family and activism remain at the heart of her work. At age 17, Tuelo moved to New York City where she worked as a vocalist, making appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman, back-up vocals for Paul Simon and GRAMMY® award-winning albums including Angelique Kidjo's Eve and Sings. Now, continually inspired by traditional African music, the art-driven, spiritual and political singer-songwriter offers her own blend of folk-rock that both honors her past and paves the way for her future.
Regarding My Heart, the highly anticipated, emotive second studio album by Tuelo is due out September 27 and available for pre-order now. The title track is the first taste of the project and is out now. Celebrate the new music alongside Tuelo in NYC tonight with a free happy house and show: RSVP here. Plus, join Tuelo live at The Historic Apollo Theater in NYC on April 17 with tickets on sale here and on April 25 at Debbie's At Dutch Kills with more information here.
Also, check out Tuelo's podcast, A Songwriter's Journal. She recently launched Season 2, and Episode 1, out now, sets the stage for the new album and all that's to follow. Stay tuned for Episode 2 due out April 3, which will be all about "Regarding My Heart." Connect with Tuelo on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok and stay tuned for much more.
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