Out now: Shad – Start Anew

Shad’s Start Anew is out now, his seventh studio album and the conclusion in a trilogy of socially conscious works including 2018’s A Short Story About a War and 2021’s TAO. He shares the final single from the album, ‘Slanted,’ a track about “the proverbial ‘slippery slope’ as it plays it out specifically in terms of economic and political power.” This year marks 20 years of Shad in music, a milestone celebrating two decades of artistic growth, impact, and innovation. Known for his sharp wit, thought-provoking bars, and versatile sound, Shad continues to share an inspired message with Start Anew – a project about embracing change, facing loss, and moving into uncertainty with hope.

‘Slanted’ is produced by Phil Beaudreau, who has played, produced, and arranged on many projects including Laylah Hathaway, Phonte, and Justin Bieber. The single is accompanied by a music video, directed by Justin Broadbent. Addressing the unavoidable fact that individual effort to change can often be confronted by systemic and social barriers, ‘Slanted’ offers up the sobering phrase “The land is slick and slippery and slanted / Few fully notice how a few take advantage” to illustrate the deceptive illusion of an equal playing field for all, addressing wealth inequality among other issues. In doing so, Shad stakes out the case for renewal and change at the centre of Start Anew.

About the track, Shad says: “Slanted is a song concept I’ve had in my head for a while […] The image/metaphor I had in my mind as I was writing this was of a town with a slight, almost imperceptible slope. Where the land appears to be flat or even but nevertheless things mysteriously flow and accumulate in a certain direction. This felt like an apt metaphor for how advantages and wealth accumulate in the hands of a few despite our supposedly fair, meritocratic system.”

With Start Anew, Shad thematically tackles our collective reluctance to break out of our comfort zones armed with his trademark wit and thought-provoking bars. Embracing a musical approach that evokes the playful soulfulness of his early releases, Start Anew is refreshingly and unapologetically direct, aligning with Shad’s ongoing mission to spread love, wisdom and hope in an effort to inspire personal and societal change.

Stream / download Start Anew here.
Stream / download ‘Slanted’ here.