Los Angeles singer-songwriter Kelela will be releasing a new EP, Hallucinogen, on May 5.

The EP features six tracks written over a period of two years. The songs explore all the ups and downs of a relationship, with each track representing emotions or parts of love and sexuality. The first track, “A Message,” is about rejection and amputation; “Gomenasai” is about domination and empowerment; “Swoop” is feral lust and longing; followed by rebirth and recovery in “All The Way Down;” delirium and ecstasy in the title track; and “The High” is about the payoff. As you listen to the album repeatedly, it is meant to be a cycle that repeats itself, as love often does.

Kelela spoke about the process of writing “A Message,” the EP’s opening track. “The initial version of the song spilled out of us in about 25 minutes. Since then, it’s been like a sculpture that I’ve come to and refined over time, adding a lyric here, refining a melody there, adding a bridge, etc. It’s a process that is now finally complete with its release and I’m so happy that I finally get to share it with all of you,” she said. Watch the video for “A Message” below.

Kelela will be performing at the 2015 SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas, and will be headed to Barcelona, Spain, in May to play at the Primavera Sound Festival.

Hallucinogen
01. A Message
02. Gomenasai
03. Swoop
04. All The Way Down
05. Hallucinogen
06. The High