ALA.NI - Something You Said (Official Video)

British-born, Paris-based artist ALA.NI returns today with “Something You Said,” her first new music in five years and the lead single from her forthcoming album. Co-produced with French jazz fusion artist Clément Petit - known for his tributes to Ryuichi Sakamoto with the band Asynchrone, and his work with Roseaux (whose latest album also features ALA.NI) - the track introduces a more fluid and sun-warmed sound: a genre-fluid blend of calypso, jazz, bossa nova, and golden-era songcraft, threaded together by her unmistakable voice.

Written after receiving a guitar sketch from longtime collaborator Marvin Dolly, the song captures the headrush of early attraction through close, fluttering vocal arrangements and understated acoustic textures. “I often take a snippet from my life and just amplify it,” ALA.NI says. “Not an exaggeration — because I want it to sound genuine. For me, that’s what storytelling is about.”

The single marks a turning point for ALA.NI shaped by personal transformation and a deep connection to place, following two and a half years spent living across Barbados, Grenada (where her parents grew up), and Jamaica — an extended journey that offered a new sense of self and creative clarity.

Since debuting with the critically acclaimed You & I in 2016 — a self-produced set of exquisitely restrained torch songs that earned her a performance on Later… with Jools Holland — Ala.Ni has steadily carved a singular path through contemporary music. Her 2020 follow-up ACCA, composed almost entirely using layered vocals and beatbox textures, expanded her sonic palette and brought collaborators like LaKeith Stanfield and Iggy Pop into her orbit. But even as she’s shared stages and studios with artists as diverse as Mary J. Blige, Andrea Bocelli, Chassol, and Jon Batiste, ALA.NI has remained resistant to categorization — an artist guided more by intuition and narrative than by genre.

ALA.NI will perform at Jazz à la Villette in Paris on September 6. Additional European dates to be announced soon.