Willow – Empathogen (Brown Vinyl)

Limited edition brown vinyl

The sixth album from Willow

Willow is back with a lot of emotions to share.

Empathogen sees Willow moving in a new alternative and jazz-tinged direction after her widely praised 2022 release Coping Mechanism. The new album includes features from Jon Batiste and St. Vincent.

Willow, 23, whose parents are Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, has released two singles from the album, "Symptom of Life" and "Big Feelings." The album releases May 3, 2024. "The piano part of this song is so dense and dissonant but also darkly beautiful", Willow (born Willow Smith) said in a press release, of the single.

"I wrote 'b i g f e e l i n g s' during a week where I was coming to terms with my own emotional patterns that I hadn't known were there," she continued. "Musically, it has a darkness and complexity that reflects what we all experience in our own minds. The song is about accepting those intense feelings that you have no idea what to do with."

Per the release, empathogen follows Willow through a journey of bringing her back to earth after releasing two rock-inspired albums.

"Tactile and transcendent, it sees Willow tapping into 'ancestral energy' to evoke a sense of mystery. Features from Jon Batiste and St. Vincent drive home the album's bent towards technical musicianship, while Willow's voice — grown deeper and richer over time — takes center stage. It is an album that embraces tension — light and dark, free-spiritedness and social pressures, playfulness and depth," the release states.