Kelela and Fade To Mind: a meeting of worlds
Los Angeles has been home to some of electronic music’s more groundbreaking artists in recent years like Flying Lotus and his Brainfeeder label. Deeper underground, you have Fade To Mind, a record label with a roster whose sole purpose could be described as music to make your head spin.
Trading in sharp irregular dancefloor rhythms, Fade To Mind’s artists Nguzunguzu, Kingdom and Fatima Al Qadiri create discombobulating grimey sounds for the next generation.
Kelela is the label’s go-to vocalist and her soulful Aaliyah-esque voice has been perfectly suited to Fade To Mind’s productions whether they be ice-cold, dark or bursting with light.
These days singers are drafted in to suit the song’s production tapestry. On her new mixtape Cut 4 Me, Kelela teams up with producers like Girl Unit, Bok Bok and Jam City and the collaboration is mutually beneficial rather than a one-sided one. The 10 producers listed primarily serve the singer and the song. Kelela is the star, as the title hints. As a result, the tendency to go full force into head-tilting production is reigned in by Kelela’s significant R&B melodic sensibilities.
What makes Cut 4 Me still worth your time
The Nguzunguzu-produced ‘Enemy’ with its dangerous synth stonk, the silky Girl Unit-produced electro of ‘Floor Show’, the future R&B Kingdom-produced ‘Cut 4 Me’ or the aquatic thonk of ‘Keep It Cool’ with production from Jam City are all standouts but there aren’t really any fails here.
Cut 4 Me is engrossing for its 50 minute duration and feels more like a debut album than a mixtape per se. It’s a collection of tracks that sounds like a future, if not the future, of bass/electronic/R&B/pop music.
Cut 4 Me tracklist
01. Guns & Synths [Prod. Bok Bok, Napolian, Tariq & Garfield]
02. Enemy [Prod. Nguzunguzu]
03. Floor Show [Prod. Girl Unit]
04. Do It Again [Prod. NA]
05. Go All Night (Let Me Roll) [Prod. Morri$]
06. Bank Head (Extended) [Prod. Kingdom]
07. Cut 4 Me [Prod. Kingdom]
08. Keep It Cool [Prod. Jam City]
09. Send Me Out [Prod. Kingdom]
10. Go All Night (Let it Burn) [Prod. Morri$]
11. Something Else [Prod. Nguzunguzu]
12. A Lie [Prod. Bok Bok]
13. Cherry Coffee [Prod. Jam City]
Update, April 2026: Kelela has returned with new single ‘idea 1’, produced by Oscar Scheller – a significant sonic shift from the club-adjacent R&B of her earlier work into shoegaze and dream-pop territory. It’s her first new music since the jazz reimagining In The Blue Light (2025) and Raven (2023). Cut 4 Me remains the essential starting point for anyone coming to her catalogue fresh.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
