''Lifetime'' is the debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

musician Klein, released on 6 September 2019 on her imprint ''ijn inc.'', released digitally and on vinyl in a limited edition run.

Background

''Lifetime'' was created over a 18-month period. Klein likened the album to "giving someone your diary", and the press release states that it features "a deeply personal narrative and a more discursive and expressive approach to songwriting". The album is inspired by the works of

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

singer and composer

James Cleveland James Edward Cleveland (December 5, 1931 – February 9, 1991) was an American gospel singer, musician, and composer. Known as the King of Gospel, Cleveland was a driving force behind the creation of the modern gospel sound by incorporating trad ...

and

race film The race film or race movie was a genre of film produced in the United States between about 1915 and the early 1950s, consisting of films produced for black audiences, and featuring black casts. Approximately five hundred race films were produce ...

pioneer

Spencer Williams Spencer Williams (October 14, 1889 – July 14, 1965) was an American jazz and popular music composer, pianist, and singer. He is best known for his hit songs " Basin Street Blues", "I Ain't Got Nobody", "Royal Garden Blues", "I've Found a New B ...

, early 18th century tonalities, and the lasting impact of Klein's religious experience. ''Lifetime'' features less emphasized vocal work than her prior releases, and each track is intended to stand as its own "conversational piece." Its press release says the album "embraces the inevitable cycles of existence, phasing through moments of brutality, vulnerability, estrangement and unexpected fortitude."

Artwork

The artwork for ''Lifetime'' was designed by Lacra; on its front cover, Klein, with white hair starting as braids that flow out into chaotic water-like streams and bloodshot eyes, is crouching and glancing to the viewer, with an aquatic dark blue fabric laid out in a black background. On its back cover, a gathering of

uncanny The uncanny is the psychological experience of something as not simply mysterious, but creepy, often in a strangely familiar way. It may describe incidents where a familiar thing or event is encountered in an unsettling, eerie, or taboo context. ...

nun-like figures on the same background communicate and stare at the ground.

Track listing

Personnel

* Klein – production, arrangements *

Matana Roberts Matana Roberts (born 1975) is an American sound experimentalist, visual artist, jazz saxophonist and clarinetist, composer and improviser based in New York City. They have previously been an active member of the Association for the Advancement of ...

– featured * Lacra – artwork

References

{{Authority control Klein (musician) albums 2019 debut albums