Mikky Ekko Releases New Song; Debut Album, Time, out January 20th

Mikky Ekko‘s debut album is EASILY one of my most highly anticipated releases of the next couple months. Since I had the pleasure of seeing him open for Jessie Ware a couple of years back, I’ve been waiting for an album’s worth of original material.  The 29 year-old, one-time Rihanna collaborator has a falsetto that could melt your heart, as evidenced by beautiful lead single, “Smile” (iTunes). Originally slated for a Fall release, Ekko’s debut album Time now has a scheduled release date of January 20th (RCA Records). Definitely something to “SMILE” about.

In addition to releasing his debut album, Mikky Ekko is busy touring, opening for Alt-J on their current U.S. tour and co-headlining with HAERTS in December. Now available for pre-order (iTunes), Time features collaborations with Dave Sitek (Elliphant, Oh Land, Kelis), Jeff Bhasker (Kanye West, La Roux, Lana Del Rey), Stargate (Rihanna, Beyoncé, Katy Perry), Dennis Herring (Ben Folds, Modest Mouse, Counting Crows), Clams Casino (FKA Twigs, Jhené Aiko, Blood Orange), Blood Diamonds (Grimes, Tinashe, Charli XCX) Justin Parker (Lana Del Rey, Bat For Lashes, Banks), Ryan Tedder (Leona Lewis, Beyoncé, Ella Henderson) and Benny Blanco (Jessie J, Maroon 5, Katy Perry). Quite the star-studded affair, no?

To hold us all over until Time—Mikky Ekko has gifted us all with a new remix of “Smile” by Hippie Sabotage AND a new album track called “Mourning Doves” (listen BELOW), which premiered over on Vogue.com last week. This HAUNTING piano ballad was co-written and co-produced by Swedish songwriter/producer Elof Loev, with whom Ekko previously worked with on his poignant Rihanna duet, “Stay.”

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyPRlGie5Ow]

The release of Time has been…well, a long TIME coming. Following last summer’s “Kids,” as well as his first U.S. tour (including a run of dates supporting Jessie Ware) Mikky released an EP of songs culled from his performance at iTunes Festival in London, where he had the privilege of opening for Justin Timberlake. It was his collaboration with Barbadian pop princess, Rihanna that, for all intents and purposes, launched his international career, co-writing and featuring on her track “Stay,” which went on to become one of the biggest tracks of 2013, selling over 10 million copies and peaking at No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot 100. The song even earned Mikky his first Grammy Award nomination (for Best Pop Duo/Collaboration).

You can currently hear the sweet soulful sound of Mikky Ekko on Chris Malinchak‘s latest dance single, “Stranger.” No stranger to EDM, Ekko was also featured on David Guetta’s “One Voice,” earning him a MTV Video Music Award nomination for ‘Best Video with a Social Message’ in 2014. You can hear Mikky’s music in a whole bevy of TV shows right now including most recently True Blood, The Blacklist, Grey’s Anatomy, Orange Is The New Black, Homeland and more.

Check out the video for “Smile” BELOW and catch Mikky Ekko on tour with Alt-J and HAERTS (dates BELOW).

Tour Dates with alt-J

11/18 Boston, MA – Orpheum Theatre
11/19 Washington, DC – Echostage

Tour Dates with HAERTS

11/29 Chicago, IL – Schubas
11/30 Columbus, OH – A&R Bar
12/2 Pittsburgh, PA – Club AE
12/5 Atlanta, GA – Masquerade Purgatory
12/6 Nashville, TN – Marathon
12/8 St. Louis, MO – Firebird
12/9 Kansas City, MO – Record Bar
12/12 Portland, OR – Star
12/13 Seattle, WA – Crocodile
12/16 San Francisco, CA – Rickshaw
12/18 Denver, CO – Larimer Lounge
12/20 Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry

[youtube=http://youtu.be/e0RFirBWQsE]

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