Afrofuturist collective Mourning [A] BLKstar unveiled details for their new studio album Ancient//Future, slated for release next month on July 19 via Don Giovanni Records. After establishing themselves locally in Cleveland, Ohio, M[A]B gained global recognition with their profound and timely 2020 album, The Cycle. Alongside the announcement, M[A]B are offering a first glimpse into the project’s next era with the scorching single “Literary Witches,” which arrives accompanied by a self-directed music video.
M[A]B’s “Literary Witches” feels like a starter pistol for a revolution. Built on the back of mind-boggling drums and face-melting brass melodies, the ever-evolving collective uses the arrangement’s psychedelic chaos to perform a powerful spoken word poem. Just reading the lyrics of “Literary Witches” is emotional, with lines like “I refuse to dig holes to lie still.” Match that vague yet potent poetry with the awe-inspiring dynamics of the vocals; you get a neo-soul-tinged performance tinted with the presence of a rock power ballad. The cinematic music video rounds out the odyssey that is M[A]B’s “Literary Witch.” If this is only our first glimpse at the band’s upcoming Ancient//Future LP, we all have a new release date to mark on our calendars.
“We wanted ‘Literary Witches’ to be the sonic embodiment of when a woman who birthed the world is unnoticed and shadowed by her children she revolts,” said the collective. “Fed by her body and her hands and her heart she emotes with the strongest parts of her voice, the solid stoic sections of her meaning. Gentle sternness to set the motion back on a path that is inclusive of her needs in tandem with the needs of the world.”
