Charlotte’s own MAVI has returned with his highly-anticipated third album shadowbox. The LP features an appearance from Michigan indie-R&B singer Malaya on “open waters” and arrives on the heels of recent singles “i’m so tired” as well as “drunk prayer”, the visuals for which marked MAVI’s first ever direction credits. Adorned in emotional, ultra-personal confessionals, the album follows the announcement of his forthcoming shadowbox tour, which kicks off in Raleigh, North Carolina, on September 7th and features MESSIAH! as support for the entirety of the tour as well as stints from PinkSiifu, Ovrkast., Chenayder, Vayda, Sideshow, Niontay, Igwe Aka, and Ahmir. On the new album, in the words of MAVI:
“I was really sad about the last album. I didn’t really know how to get back into making stuff into the way I like. I felt really hopeless about it, started getting really drunk, dealt with love and heartbreak, having to be there for my family. I had to come back and really learn how to make art all over again. My path back was centered around visual art, fashion, interior design, and design as an artistic framework and as an organizational force in society. A lot of the backbone of the album came from my time with this design book, ‘The Black Experience in Design.’ The idea I gained from that is design is power. The ability to determine the order of things, the way things are supposed to be…that’s power. The orderliness in the lives of the devoutly religious became an attractive subtext during the creation of this album.”
Rooted in autobiography, MAVI’s new album is bookended by raw vulnerability and soul-baring lyricism.
Inspired by substantial time spent in art museums during the making of the album, shadowbox is an unflinching portrait of this harrowing period in his life, as MAVI puts his heartbreak on full display, faces his struggles head-on — and often finds that he’s shadow-boxing himself.
© 2024, Seth "Digital Crates" Barmash. All rights reserved.
