Somali-Canadian singer-songwriter Amaal has returned with a hypnotic, new song and visual for “Honey,” the first single off her highly-anticipated sophomore EP Milly, set to release this fall. The Dan LeMoyne-directed video captures Amaal’s transcendent alter ego Milly, an unapologetic version of herself that embraces intimacy and female autonomy without fear of shame or judgement. She physically and figuratively awakens with slow, jolted movements, shedding old inhibitions and welcoming a sense of sexual liberation considered explicitly taboo in her conservative Muslim community.
“My music is a celebration of my womanhood,” Amaal explains. “It’s the sound of me reclaiming my power, my pleasure, myself.”
In the “Honey” video, Amaal moves through moody blue, purple and red-orange hues drenched in Cuchara jewelry and ultramodern pieces from Marine Serre, Sho Konishi and Herve Léger (styling by Lebani Osmani) as she croons over the melodic track, produced by GRAMMY-nominated duo Nicky Davey (Beyoncé, Zayn). Watch the video here, and stream the track here.
Amaal’s first studio EP Black Dove made quite an impact in the Canadian music scene as she showcased her powerful intuition both musically and emotionally. “Not What I Thought” boasts 1.8 million views as Amaal sang her heart out in a gorgeous Iceland set music video directed by Sean Brown. “Amaal has mastered the art of pairing airy but commanding vocals with pulsing production,” The Fader wrote.
The fourth of ten children, Amaal began her remarkable journey in war-torn Mogadishu, where she and her family lived until they were forced to flee as refugees in the early 1990s. Starting over fresh in Toronto, she embraced the poetic nature of her cultural heritage but bristled at the conservative structures and customs that came with it, particularly the repressive expectations placed upon women. By the time she hit 20, Amaal had grown bold enough to begin making her own music, but she still felt limited as to what she could sing about, so she focused her creative energy on politically and socially conscious material inspired by the civil unrest in Somalia and the struggles her people faced as a result. It was powerful stuff, to be sure, but there was more to Amaal than being a refugee, and she longed to express the fullness of herself and her story in her art. In 2019, Amaal finally worked up the courage to step outside of her comfort zone with the release of Black Dove, a daringly vulnerable collection that found her reckoning with love and heartbreak and desire in her music for the very first time. Though it felt incredibly risky, the EP was a critical smash, garnering a Juno nomination for Soul/R&B Recording of the Year, racking up millions of streams online, and prompting rave reviews across the board. Complexhailed Amaal’s “airy and ethereal vocals,” while Vibe proclaimed her a singer “like no other,” and Exclaim!dubbed her “an artist that demands attention.” Amaal’s sophomore EP, entitled Milly, will be released fall 2021.
