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Protoje Returns Bearing Gifts: New Album, Shares New Video For ‘Hills’ And Int’l Tour Dates

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Reggae singer Protoje has followed up on his year-long absence from solo releases by bearing gifts: the striking new track Hills and its accompanying video, an international tour schedule, and the announcement of his forthcoming seventh studio album, currently scheduled to be out this summer. The care package arrives after days of teasers ranging from a surreal single cover by photographer Destinee Condison to a video clip of the Grammy-nominated artist hovering above Jamaica’s mountainous interior via helicopter.

With producers 8TRACK and IV The Polymath behind the boards, Hills opens with a silky guitar melody atop what sounds like an emergency air raid siren going off. The stage is set and before long, Protoje steps in to reaffirm his position as a pioneer guiding reggae into fresh sonic territories. 

Wary of the different shades of chaos abound in Jamaica’s capital city, Protoje revels in the freedom that lies above and beyond it. The lead single lays out a simple-enough formula: as the altitude increases, so do the upper limits of privacy, safety, and general well-being. What this all amounts to is newfound peace and clarity; scarce commodities indeed and a potential forecast of things to come.

Director Samo and cinematographer Fernando Hevia bolster the track’s release with their own narrative-driven translation. In the video, two women take a spiraling journey from Kingston’s streets up through the rustic hamlets of rural St. Andrew in search of the ever-reclusive, now-elusive Protoje. They never find him, of course, but the aerial, performance, and b-roll shots flit from the literal to the abstract seamlessly and do well in bringing Protoje’s idyll to screens everywhere.

The St. Elizabeth native’s tour schedule features stops in North America, Europe and Africa with festival appearances at Bonnaroo and the Roots Picnic, among others. More shows are expected to be announced. 

After announcing a deal with RCA Records in 2020, Protoje released his last album In Search Of Lost Time, which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart.   His other albums are Seven Year Itch (2011), The 8 Year Affair (2013), Ancient Future (2015), Royalty Free (2016), and A Matter of Time (2018).

Press play on Hills above.