Aloe Blacc Explores Fatherhood and Self-Awareness on New Album

Singer-songwriter, producer and activist Aloe Blacc recently issued “My Way,” the latest track from his new album, All Love Everything, due out on October 10. Produced by Jonas Jeberg (Panic! At The Disco, Selena Gomez), the soulful Mavin Gaye-like ballad comes off as a motivational anthem set to piano.

All Love Everything represents Aloe’s first album since his 2013 Grammy-nominated major label debut, Lift Your Spirit, and Blacc’s first collection of material written as a father.

“Rather than a genre, my music is about A.I.M.: affirmation, inspiration, and motivation,” he says in a press release. “After so many opportunities to talk about my music and not feel comfortable saying, ‘I’m a pop artist’ or ‘I’m a folk artist,’ I had this realization. My songwriting genre is thematic.”

Throughout the album, Blacc exhibits “radical empathy” and “emotional directness.” 

Whether it’s the stand-out closer “Harvard” — a heartrending storytelling song in the tradition of Joni Mitchell and Bill Withers that finds Blacc singing with disarming candor about a woman working two jobs to support her family, including a child with special needs — or the candid and percussive devotion ode “Corner,” Aloe’s songwriting remains as affecting as ever. Drawing on an eclectic mix of soul, folk, and contemporary pop, All Love Everything proves that there’s no pigeonholing the human experience.

Blacc dedicated the video for the previously released track “I Do” to his wife.

In June, Blacc hosted a virtual town hall to discuss America during the Black Lives Matter protests and quarantine. Michael Ealy, Lakers’ center JaVale McGee and rapper Taleb Kweli joined him to discuss a range of topics, from the death of George Floyd and policy brutality to COVID and mental health.

Blacc also recently launched a regular interview series on Instagram Live, where he has discussed the repeal of 50 A, qualified immunity, policing parenting and activism — with artists and guests from the fields of law, literature, academia, and so much more, including Nolan Gould from Modern Family.