Tori Kelly collaborated withJimmy Napes, best known for co-writing Sam Smiths Stay With Me, on her urgent new single Change Your Mind. The singers September album,Hiding Place, was a gospel record, but she transitions back to the secular here: He spoke to me like the rain/I knew that I would have to see him again/And as he poured out his heart on me/I was a moth to a flame.
Change Your Mind is acoustic and unhurried. Swelling pianos and massed backing vocals serve to push the song towards a climax. Kelly is known for her forceful singing style, and the bare arrangement allows her to hurl her voice around.
Kellys last secular album,Unbreakable Smile, came out in 2015. It spawned three different hit singles, all of which cracked the Hot 100, and eventually earned a platinum certification.Hiding Placedid not enjoy the same mass appeal, but it did earn an audience in the gospel community: Help Us to Love, a collaboration with the HamilTones, and Never Alone, with Kirk Franklin, both became gospel hits.
Kelly embarks on 26-date tour starting February 25th.