Willow Smith has returned with a new single “Transparent Soul” which is featuring Blink-182‘s drummer Travis Barker. The single was unveiled by Zane Lowe on his Beats 1 ‘New Music Daily’ show this morning and was released via MSFTSMusic/Roc Nation Records.
“Transparent Soul” is the first glimpse of Willow’s forthcoming full-length album which will be out this summer.
Here, the actress and singer explores a pop-punk sound with heavy guitar on the song and the pop-punk hero Travis Barker. It also marks a turning point and a new era in her career, on Instagram she shared “I am so GRATEFUL and EXCITED to start this new journey! Let the vibes commence“.
“Transparent Soul” comes with a visual performance where we can see Willow in an empty white studio. She is wearing things coming from what we could call the alt fashion with black eyeliner and bondage pants at one moment and then a grungy white-blue dress with a studded neck collar.
The video was released by the multidisciplinary creative force Dana Trippe – who also worked with artists such as HAIM, Demi Lovato. On the video with a mixed between scenes filmed through a fish-eye lens -which reminds us of the R&B 2000s videos and others which are a combination of film grain and digital glitches.
Willow shared in an interview “I’m so grateful for this tune because it was created in such an introspective time (during the first couple months of the quarantine). It was the song that proved to me that I needed to let go of the insecurities I had about making a project of this genre.”
In the chorus, Willow sings “I knew a boy just like you / He’s a snake just like you / Such a fake just like you / But I can see the truth“. The singer revealed that the lyrics were inspired by a quote from a “beautiful swami” she knows personally.
“It is said that a saintly person is so pure that he or she acts like a spotless mirror. When we come in the presence of such mirror-like soul, we can see both the beauty and ugliness of our inner life.”
Earlier this month, on April 16, Willow already gave her fans a glimpse of this new era. She shared studio footage on her Instagram where she was jamming on an electric guitar to a cover of Deftones‘ “My Own Summer (Shove It)” with the musicians Gitai and Sean Tavella.
About Travis Barker, we know now that he might be the best to help artists to pivot into a more pop-punk genre, he did it last year with Machine Gun Kelly collaborating on his album Ticket To My Downfall, which was a success.
While waiting for more previews of the upcoming album of Willow Smith, watch the video for “Transparent Soul” here:
#Peace.Love.WillowSmith
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