Anjimile Chithambo, better known as Anjimile, announces his new album, The King, out September 8th via 4AD, his first full-length since 2020’s breakthrough Giver Taker. To herald the announcement, he shares lead single, ‘The King.’
Highlighting the artistic shift from Giver Taker to now, ‘The King’ opens with a lofty, melodic choir, an intro that belies the song’s motives. Suddenly, sinister arpeggios interrupt the reverie, and the voices grow darkly serious. Deeply steeped in the confusion, grief, and rage of being Black in America, ‘The King’ pushes back against
the tired adage
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”
“What don ’t kill you almost killed you
What don’t fill you
pains you
drains you.”
“If Giver Taker was an album of prayers, The King is an album of curses.” In his second album, Anjimile continues exploring what it means to be a Black trans person in America. The brutally honest reflection of 2020’s deadly summer is less reminiscent of the pink cloud of early sobriety and more rooted in the reality of seeing brutality with clear eyes. Drawing from influences ranging from religion, Phillip Glass, and lived experiences, the album is a grand step forward for Anjimile.
Nearly every sound you hear on The King comes from two instruments: an acoustic guitar and Anjimile’s own voice. Other than a few beautiful contributions from Justine Bowe, Brad Allen Williams, Sam Gendel, and James Krivchenia (Big Thief), the album is the result of a year in LA working intimately with Grammy and Juno winner Shawn Everett.
Anjimile – The King -Tracklist
- The King
- Mother
- Anybody
- Genesis
- Animal
- Father
- Harley
- Black Hole
- I Pray
- The Right
ABOUT ANJIMILE
Anjimile has been hustling for over a decade in the indie music scene, first hitting the stage in Boston while he attended Northeastern University as a music industry student.
Anjimile recorded several EPs and albums on their own, and their star rose when their 2018 NPR Tiny Desk Concert contest entry was deemed the best out of Boston. In 2019 he recorded Giver Taker, a collection of songs written while getting sober in Florida. Giver Taker was critically adored – Rolling Stone Magazine deemed it one of the best 50 albums of 2020. Since Giver Taker’s release, Anjimile tested new material on the road while opening for artists like Jose Gonzalez, Tune-Yards, and Hurray for the Riff Raff.
A collection of covers, Reunion (2021), featured renditions by Jay Som, Sasami, and Lomelda. His newest, The King, is the result of decades of hustling, centuries of survival, and one artist’s honesty and bravery Anjimile won the world over with the clear-eyed honesty of their first record – a meditation on spirituality and liberation.