MJ Cole has announced his first album for 17 years

MJ Cole will release a new LP titled ‘MJ Cole presents Madrugada’ on April 3. The title is a Spanish word that translates as “the period between midnight and sunrise”.

The 12-track outing sees MJ Cole move away from his dance-focused origins to classical-informed, piano-led ambience.

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Speaking about the creative process, he said: “I've made hundreds of records and had albums out before, but this record has always been brewing in the background. It’s been gestating my whole life – but the execution of it has been very quick. I really feel like a new artist.

“This isn’t just me sitting down at the piano and writing something nice and ambient, I’m coming at it as a hardcore manipulator of sounds. You can hear my breath, you can hear the pedal, you can hear the piano as a living instrument. It’s all about expression. When I play the piano I go into a meditative state, other thoughts don't come into my head.”

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He will debut the album live at EartH Hackney on April 29, get your tickets here.

Watch the video for lead single ‘Cathedtral’ and check out the tracklist below. Pre-order the album here.

Patrick Hinton is Mixmag's Digital Features Editor, follow him on Twitter

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