Tarrus Riley is set to release his fifth full-length album, Love Situation, on February 4.
The 17-track collection is produced by Dean Fraser for Cannon, assisted by Shane C. Brown of Juke Boxx Productions, Mitchum ‘Khan’ Chin and Jordan McClure. The project was mixed by Brown and Romel Marshall and was mastered by Grammy Award-winning engineer, Michael Fuller.
Riley, known for making thought-provoking music, has created a lane for himself, with songs like She’s Royal, Start Anew, Contagious, and Good Girl Gone Bad.
Those songs have created a movement where fans began believing in the power of self and the power of love.
Love Situation’s leading single, Dem a Watch, is set to hit airwaves this week, and while not much has been revealed, a release from Riley’s camp indicated that the new single will show another side of Riley.
“The message and tone of this single shows the diversity of Tarrus Riley and his team. With a unique-styled musical composition and the socially-charged lyrics which articulate perseverance despite what the masses may say or do to try discredit you. Dem A Watch is a single which will only tease your musical palette,” the release said.
When reached for comment, president of Zojak Worldwide, the organisation responsible for distributing Riley’s latest effort, Aaron Mahlfeldt, showed himself a pleased man.
“We are very pleased to be working with reggae superstar Tarrus Riley. Working closely with Tarrus’ entire team along with Shane C. Brown and Dean Fraser has been one of the best experiences we have had in the music industry. They are all true professionals on every level and very easy to collaborate with.
We thank Tarrus and his production team for partnering with Zojak to release Love Situation, 2014’s rocksteady masterpiece,” said Mahlfeldt.
Riley is not forgetting that the effort, though featuring his raspy vocals, is not just his.
“Special thanks to the engineers, singers and players of instruments for lending their expertise on this project. Extra-special salute to the legends of the indigenous Jamaican genre of music called rocksteady, also called lovers rock, in other parts of the world,” said Riley.
Love Situation is a true testimony to the resilience and timeless quality of the greatest era of Jamaican music.
The album will be available on January 28 for pre-order. To promote the album, Riley will be kicking off a United States tour on January 25.