ANAIIS RELEASES TWO NEW SINGLES “SUNSHINE” AND “P4P” THE DEVOTION & THE BLACK DIVINE TOUR KICKS OFF SEPT 10 IN LOS ANGELES, FIND TICKETS HERE DEVOTION & THE BLACK DIVINE ALBUM OUT NOW |
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Photo by Liz Johnson Artur |
PRESS PRAISE FOR ANAIIS “Her powerful voice soothes with words of affirmation over a soft, skipping neo-soul bassline… It’s an intimate dialogue, a palm pressed against the mirror towards her own reflection.” - CRACK MAGAZINE “A live-sounding organism that sits on the edge of modern soul, ‘Devotion & The Black Divine’ provides thoughtful, deromanticised discourse on love as a primordial foundation, motherhood, femininity, mythology, and the life-force that comes with our tether to the natural world.” - CLASH MAGAZINE “It’s clear that anaiis creates entire worlds with her music—anytime you put on one of her songs, you’re transported into a comforting, easy-listening space where her lyrics resonate deeply and feel personal.” - EARMILK “Shaped profoundly by new motherhood, the album captures anaiis at her most open and human, embracing unpredictability with grace and creative freedom. It moves through a wide emotional spectrum while remaining beautifully still at its core, a soulful conversation between the artist, her inner world, and the collective human experience.” - WORDPLAY MAGAZINE “Music that soothes and unsettles in equal measure, filled with moments that affirm self love and others that stretch her voice into new territory.” - NEW WAVE MAGAZINE |
Today, London-based French-Senegalese artist anaiis releases her first new music of 2026 with two new singles "Sunshine" and "P4P". Recorded in London with a live band, the dual release highlights the breadth of her artistry through deeply emotional storytelling and immersive production — an electrifying, warm divergence from the tender sonic palette of her previous releases but no less urgent. Built around lively instrumentation and layered vocals, "Sunshine" captures the radiant, disorienting feeling of an encounter that shakes up your world. "P4P" shifts the lens outward, a protest song that pairs emotionally driven instrumentation with lyricism that refuses numbness and calls for collective movement. Together they sit at the tension between joy and rage, pleasure and justice — two feelings anaiis refuses to keep separate. Listen to Sunshine and P4P HERE. anaiis shares about the singles, “Both songs are more upbeat than my usual material and felt appropriate for a summer release. Whilst 'P4P' is more of a protest song, they are both connected to the theme of love and the weight of the terrifying times we are living through. I needed to write 'Sunshine' as a way to summon the sun into my life, to feel that somehow it is possible to linger in feelings of joy and bliss, even for a brief moment. Sometimes we have encounters or meet people in our lives that completely shake up our world and suddenly make the impossible feel possible. I wanted to try and touch that through sound. I also feel that in this time where desperation, fear, and anxiety are so easily palpable/tangible amongst us, we need to remember that our joy reminds us of our aliveness and that’s what will keep the fight alive within us. “P4P” was a way for me to express the simultaneous deep frustration about having to find ways to cope and "carry on with life" whilst the world feels like it’s falling apart at every level. It’s about the feelings of rage that are within me when I face the depth of the demons we are fighting collectively. It’s touching on the ways the system and powers that be want to keep us calmly conforming and complicit, but there is no peace to ever be found in this. It’s about creating movement within ourselves and with others, when so much is trying to keep us numb and drained. I think many of us right now are struggling with feeling permitted to preserve our sense of joy, whilst also wanting to see justice and change in the world. These two songs are somewhat attempting to explore these confusing emotions, trying to voice a feeling of resistance.”
The release arrives on the heels of announcing her first-ever North American headlining tour, which will hit major cities across the US and Canada in September and follows on the success of her EU tour earlier this year that included a sold out show at Islington Assembly Hall and a headline slot at Brick Lane Jazz Festival. The tour celebrates her 2025 album Devotion & the Black Divine, which has already yielded 20 million streams to date. The album swells with emotional clarity and a growing sense of homecoming- not to a place, but to the self. The album approaches the concept of selfhood with compassion and patience. Comfortable in her humanness, anaiis finds strength in motherhood, scholarship, and acceptance on Devotion & the Black Divine. Laced in poignant messaging and comforting chords, the album delivers beautiful storytelling over soul-infused instrumentation. Following its release, Devotion & The Black Divine was included as an album of the year by New Yorker (who also highlighted “Green Juice” as a song of the year), Apple Music, BBC 6, and Wordplay Magazine, amidst high praise from The Guardian, The Observer, Rolling Stone UK, BBC, Numéro, Crack Magazine, CLASH, and more. Born in Toulouse, France, anaiis moved around often, being raised between Dakar, Dublin, and Oakland. The work of Black thinkers and artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Octavia Butler, James Baldwin, bell hooks, Nina Simone, Alice Walker, and more helped anaiis find her own voice. Her debut EP Nina dropped in 2018. Her first project showcased a strong conviction and depth in her artistry. After her debut project, two COLORS sessions for singles “chuu” and “vanishing” put her on the radar for even more music listeners around the world. Past performances include opening for Daniel Caesar on his UK tour, performing on Mereba’s U.S. tour, and sharing the stage with soul legend Erykah Badu. Beyond the music, anaiis has also been featured as a speaker for TEDxLondonWomen at the Southbank Centre. A polymath with an insatiable appetite for growth and knowledge, anaiis’ new music and upcoming tour mark a continuation of her creative journey, inviting listeners around the globe into the intimate and reflective world she has created. |
LISTEN TO “SUNSHINE” / P4P FIND TICKETS FOR UPCOMING TOUR DATES https://laylo.com/anaiis/VrQiM9 STREAM DEVOTION & THE BLACK DIVINE |
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anaiis DEVOTION & the BLACK DIVINE TOUR DATES September 10, 2026 - Los Angeles, CA @ Pico Union September 11, 2026 - San Francisco, CA @ Swedish Music Hall September 13, 2026 - Portland, OR @ The Old Church September 15, 2026 - Seattle, WA @ Fremont Abbey September 16, 2026 - Vancouver, BC @ Chan Centre September 18, 2026 - Madison, WI @ Wisconsin Union Theatre September 19, 2026 - Chicago, IL @ Szold Hall September 22, 2026 - Toronto, ON @ Longboat Hall September 23, 2026 - Montreal, QC @ Le Ministère September 25, 2026 - Boston, MA @ ICA/Boston September 27, 2026 - Washington D.C. @ Songbyrd September 28, 2026 - Philadelphia, PA @ Philadelphia Ethical Society September 30, 2026 - New York, NY @ St Ann & The Holy Trinity Church |
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