Tori Kelly’s talent transcends genres. Her debut album Unbreakable Smile was dipped in candy-coated pop vocals and soul but her sophomore project Hiding Place takes her back home with dynamic vocals and professions of the loving gospel.
Released Friday (Sept. 14), Hiding Place is gentle with jazz and R&B instrumentals but powerful in its message to the creator. Executively produced by Kirk Franklin, Kelly speaks of spiritual freedom with Lecrae on “Masterpiece,” a search for a better tomorrow on the politically adjacent “Help Us To Love” and sings of heavenly love on “Never Alone” with Franklin.
“I grew up on gospel music, so the fact that I get the opportunity to make an album full of songs about my faith is a dream come true,” Kelly gushed on Instagram at the time of its release. “Not only that but to get to work with the one & only @kirkfranklin on this has been such an honor! My hope is that these songs might inspire, encourage, and shine a light in dark places, as that’s what they’ve done for me.”
In a statement to VIBE, Franklin says he was just as thrilled to work with the vocal powerhouse. “It blew me away that she wanted us to co-write because she’s a phenomenal songwriter and could’ve easily done it herself,” he said.
“With gospel music, you can’t sing without all your heart being in it,” Kelly added. “This album was an opportunity to do what I felt and never hold back. I could just be free and let the song take me over.”
Kelly will embark on the “Hiding Place Tour” in October, kicking off at the Tabernacle in Atlanta and concluding in November at Herbst Theater in San Fransico.
Stream Hiding Place below.
Hiding Place – Track Listing
1. Masterpiece (feat. Lecrae)
2. Help Us To Love (feat. The Hamiltones)
3. Sunday
4. Just As Sure (feat. Jonathan McReynolds)
5. Psalm 42
6. Questions
7. Never Alone (feat. Kirk Franklin)
8. Soul’s Anthem (It Is Well)
Tori Kelly –Hiding Place Tour
10/18 Atlanta, GA The Tabernacle
10/19 Birmingham, AL Lyric Theatre
10/21 Charlotte, NC McGlohon Theater at Spirit Square
10/22 Durham, NC Carolina Theatre
10/25 Munhall, PA Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead
10/27 Philadelphia, PA Temple Performing Arts Center
10/28 Washington, DC Warner Theatre
10/30 New York, NY Riverside Church
11/1 Detroit, MI Masonic Temple Theatre
11/2 Grand Rapids, MI Fountain Street Church
11/5 Chicago, IL Fourth Presbyterian Church
11/6 Chicago, IL Fourth Presbyterian Church
11/8 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium
11/11 Dallas, TX Majestic Theater
11/12 Austin, TX Paramount Theatre
11/13 Houston, TX Wortham Center Cullen Theater
11/16 Los Angeles, CA The Cathedral Sanctuary at Immanuel Presbyterian Church
11/17 Los Angeles, CA The Cathedral Sanctuary at Immanuel Presbyterian Church
11/19 San Francisco, CA Herbst Theater