WILLOW is moving onwards and upwards on her new album, empathogen. Marking the sixth studio LP from the artist, empathogen sees her embrace coming into the most authentic version of herself.
Earlier in her career, WILLOW made a name for herself with tracks reflecting the angst of benign a young adult, along with other mental struggles like feeling paranoid or wronged by a friend. empathogen shakes off that mental load – the music is lighter and more meditative.
While WILLOW leaned into rock on past records, particularly the Travis Barker and mgk-assisted hit Lately I Feel Everything, empathogen embraces smooth jazzy beats and instrumentals.
Leading up to the release, the singer released the singles “run!,” “alone” and “symptom of life.” Those songs now appear alongside nine other songs. On “home,” WILLOW teams up with Jon Batiste for a track that’s mostly instrumentation interspersed with chanting, while “pain for fun” sees her enlist St. Vincent.
Ahead of the album’s premiere, she also headed to NPR’s Tiny Desk for an intimate live show of album cuts.
Stream WILLOW’s new album “empathogen” everywhere now.