Tems Puts Creative Freedom First as She Shapes a More R&B-Leaning Next Album

Tems wears a black coat with a gray textured collar against a blue background.

Tems is defining her next chapter around creative freedom. In an EE72 interview published October 12th, the singer tells Hattie Collins that protecting her peace and building a life she enjoys have become central to how she approaches music and success.

The conversation includes an early indication of her next album’s direction. Tems describes the project she is working on as more R&B-oriented, with a mellow, melancholic, lo-fi feel. That is a description of work in progress; the interview does not provide a release date or a completed track list.

She also explains an instinctive songwriting process built around improvising melodies and words. Rather than beginning with lyrics on paper, she says she responds to the music. Her account of making “Raindance” with Dave describes recording ideas into her phone and assembling the song afterward.

Elsewhere in the discussion, Tems connects a sustainable career with the ability to make decisions without constantly proving herself. She speaks about wanting to create later in life because she chooses to, rather than because she needs to regain attention. The distinction gives listeners a useful frame for the music she is developing.

Her comments place the creative process ahead of a conventional album rollout. There is no need to treat every description of an unfinished project as a promise about the final record. For now, the news is the direction she has chosen to share and the priorities she says are guiding it.

For R&B audiences, that makes this a conversation about artistic development as much as anticipation. How a singer builds songs, protects time, and decides what success means can be as revealing as a release announcement. Those ideas deserve room alongside the weekly flow of singles and albums.

Read the full EE72 conversation for the original interview. For another perspective on the relationship between musicianship and control, revisit PowerPage’s recent Bertell feature. Both offer ways to think about the work behind an artist’s next chapter without turning an unfinished project into a release-day claim.