Falling Into The Sky

Kelela “Waitin'”

The bit from “Waiting’” that gets me is the melodic turn on “Damn, didn’t we have a good time?,” as the song shifts into pre-chorus mode. It has the lovely understated elegance of mid-‘90s Janet Jackson, and signals a feeling of relief and clarity. In the context of the lyrics, it’s the moment where Kelela’s chance encounter with a recent ex has her reexamining their past and contemplating whether they might actually have a future. She nails a very specific combination of emotions in her phrasing – giddiness blended with skepticism, with a bit of nostalgia, loneliness, and anxiety tossed in. The excited feeling is dominant, so you get a sense of where this story is going even if she doesn’t spell it out.

Buy it from Amazon.