Video: Santigold – High Priestess

For her powerful comeback to music, Santigold dug deep within herself and sought inspiration from spiritual sources as well as her ancestors. The musician who works across all genres released their newest single “High Priestess” along with the official music video for the track on May 18th.

It has been over a year since her last solo release, the dancehall and reggae-influenced mixtape I Don’t Want: The Gold Fire Sessions featuring Shenseea, and this song is her first solo release since then. In recent years, the Philadelphia native worked together with Tyler, the Creator on his album IGOR, which went on to win a Grammy Award. Additionally, in June of this past year, she made an appearance on the song “Man Next Door” from the posthumous album Solid Gold U-Roy, which was released in memory of the late Reggae legend U-Roy.

The song “High Priestess” was recorded in what was essentially the middle of the lockdown. In a statement, Santigold said that the extended period of forced solitude “literally saved my spirit.” This song is a celebration of the single mother’s reconnection with herself and is about the “greatness” she possesses.

The upbeat music fuses elements of electronica, 80s pop-rock, punk, and rap, creating a sound that she referred to as “the future sound of punk.” This seemingly contradictory and simultaneous combination of the future and nostalgic, the familiar and the strange, immediately identifiable but not quite sure is her specialty, and songs like “Who I Thought You Were” illustrate this talent.

Check out the music video for “High Priestess“.