Welcome to 2019! We’re starting the year out on an excellent note with a new track from Noname. The Phoelix-featuring “Song 31″ is the Chicago rapper’s first release since September’s transcendent Room 25 — one of 2018’s best albums. It picks up right where she left off in terms of substance and quality.

Over upbeat soul-jazz backing that playfully prods at notions of space and time, Noname unrolls a typically wonderful sequence of poetic imagery. One of many evocative excerpts: “Rolling up on the beach/ Smoking a holy leaf/ Laughing, baking, my homey T hoping joking is all we need/ When I sell pain for profit/ Now I binge-watch Atlanta/ No more TV representation from a Kelsey Grammar/ Let’s toast to niggas getting checks to work behind the camera/ Somebody raise their nana.” There’s much more where that came from, including a Christmas-related sequence that somehow ties Santa Claus to cancer and hits you with an emotional sucker-punch about loved ones lost to the prison system. And when the band takes over about 2/3 in to ride the song to conclusion, they show off a degree of casual virtuosity worthy of the rapper they’re backing.

Noname is about to head out on tour starting Wednesday in Detroit, and given the level she’s operating at right now, you don’t want to miss her when she blows through your town. Hear “Song 31″ below, where you can also find those tour dates.

TOUR DATES:
01/02 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre
01/03 – Toronto, ON @ The Danforth Music Hall (Sold Out)
01/04 – Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre
01/05 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel (Sold Out)
01/06 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel (Sold Out)
01/08 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club (Sold Out)
01/09 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club (Sold Out)
01/10 – Boston, MA @ Royale (Sold Out)
01/11 – Boston, MA @ Royale (Sold Out)
01/12 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer (Sold Out)
01/14 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
01/17 – Orlando, FL @ The Beacham Theater
01/18 – Tampa, FL @ Ritz Ybor
01/19 – Tallahassee, FL @ The Moon
01/21 – Nashville, TN @ Cannery Ballroom
01/23 – St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
01/24 – Omaha, NE @ Waiting Room
01/25 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
01/26 – Madison, WI @ The Sylvee
02/21 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
02/22 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
02/23 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
02/26 – Dallas, TX @ Canton Hall
02/27 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s
02/28 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall Downstairs
03/01 – New Orleans, LA @ The Joy Theater
03/03 – Oklahoma City, OK @ ACM at UCO Performance Lab
03/04 – Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theater
03/06 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
03/07 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex
03/08 – Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory
03/09 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox (Sold Out)
03/10 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
03/12 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
03/13 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
03/15 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
03/16 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory