Solange Sets Release Date For New Album

Solange's upcoming album SoL-AngeL & The Hadley Street Dreams will finally be released on August 26th (two weeks after Michelle William's album is released). Feauturing production by Pharrell Williams, Q-Tip, Cee-Lo and a whole bunch of others, Solange plans to offer her fans a new sound which is not only different for her, but different from anything that's out there right now.

"I literally had to beg Cee-Lo to listen to my music but once he did he signed on immediately," states the giddy SoL-AngeL. "We wrote and recorded
'T.O.N.Y' and 'Sandcastle Disco' (produced by Soul Shock) that same week. Producer Jack Splash joined in to produce 'T.O.N.Y' and went on to produce
two more songs for me: 'Would've Been the One' and 'Ode To Marvin,' my special take on Mr. Gaye's 'What's going On,' both of which I wrote with
Splash and Makeba."

For the remainder of the album, SoL-AngeL went on to work with Pharrell
for the finger-snapping, feel-good first single "I Decided," Lil Wayne makes an intoxicated guest appearance on "Champagnechronicnightcap," Bilal helps write and appears on "Cosmic Journey" and "Wanna Go Back," which Marsha Ambrosius of Floetry lends vocals to, and Raphael Saddiq produces the soulfully insightful, "Same Song, Different Man," which features Estelle.

"By the end of the project, I had worked with all of the producers and artists I had ever dreamed of including Q-Tip, Boards of Canada and Mark Ronson," states SoL-AngeL. "When I got a call saying the legendary Lamont
Dozier would take the time out to write with little old me I was ecstatic
beyond words." [x]

I Decided is the first single. The video is being shot by Melina ("Upgrade U" "Do You").

The video will offer the viewer a glimpse of who Solange, the visionary, really is: It is the ultimate pop art piece. Its psychedelic, it’s adventurous, it’s colorful and not so colorful, it’s intelligent, and it’s the inner makings of Solange. [Solange states,] “I love pop art; in fact I am a painter myself and have several pieces under my belt that I haven’t put on display but soon plan to.” The “I Decided” video deals with pop culture from the 60s to the future. It displays SoL-AngeL in settings from American Bandstand, to the Civil Rights Movement, to New Wave, and finally a “Cosmic Journey” future. [x]

I'm probably in the minority, but I like Solange. I'm not a big fan of her vocals, but I like the sound and style's she's going for with this new album. Some of the song titles have me going "what the fuck?", almost as if she's trying to be a bit "too outside the box," but the end result, at least from what I've heard, is pretty impressive. She's always tried to set herself apart from her sister and I think she might just accomplish that with this album.

CNN recently went behind the scenes for her upcoming video. Check it out.