''Shadow Works'' is the second studio album by Estonian singer and songwriter

Kerli Kerli Kõiv (; born 7 February 1987), better known mononymously as Kerli, is an Estonian singer and songwriter. Born in Elva, Kerli entered multiple singing competitions before being signed to Island Records in 2006 by LA Reid. In 2007, she rel ...

. It was released on 22 February 2019 via Seeking Blue. It was preceded by the singles "Savages", "Better", and "Legends". The album reached number 24 on the ''

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chart in the United States. It was

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by Cyrus Saidi.

Background

Following the cancellation of the release of ''

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book '' Utopia'', describing a fictional island socie ...

'' as her second studio album instead of an EP, Kerli left

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, an ...

and joined

Ultra Music Ultra Records is an American record label formed in New York City in 1995 by former PolyGram and Virgin Records executive Patrick Moxey. As of December 23, 2012, Ultra entered a global partnership with Sony Music, giving its artists access to ...

, where she released some songs as a featured artist. Kerli eventually left Ultra and decided to become an independent artist. During this time she released her third EP ''Deepest Roots''. This EP was released only as limited signed CDs as she wanted to please the fans who had pledged for the project after its delay. ''Deepest Roots'' featured all the singles released so far from the project (" Feral Hearts", "

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" and "

Diamond Hard "Diamond Hard" is a song performed by Estonian singer Kerli Kerli Kõiv (; born 7 February 1987), better known mononymously as Kerli, is an Estonian singer and songwriter. Born in Elva, Kerli entered multiple singing competitions before bei ...

") as well as remixes, audio commentaries and the instrumental track ''Journey Through the Elven Kingdom''. The original version of the album was intended to be released around 2016-2017, but this version ended up being scrapped. In 2018 she joined the label Seeking Blue, which ended up publishing the album. Kerli considers ''Shadow Works'' as her third studio album, as she also still considers ''Utopia'' as the second.

Composition

''Shadow Works'' is a relative return to Kerli's first album '' Love Is Dead'' and her EP ''

'', which has a gothic sound deeply rock-inspired sound, however, the album features more electronic sounds, akin to her EP's ''Utopia'' and ''Deepest Roots''. Kerli described the album as “an exploration of (her) own shadow, it’s a collection of music designed to connect the listener to their own disowned parts and to honor their hidden self. I explore the feelings of victim-hood, co-dependence, lust, guilt and defeat. There are also frequencies that symbolize the eventual triumph over darkness. The vocal scapes that start, part and end the collection are designed to bring the listener into a meditative state so that Shadow Work can be performed.”

Singles and promotion

The first single "Savages" was released on 30 November 2018 along the announcement and cover of the album. It reached the fourth position as one of the most successful songs of 2018 by Estonian artists on

Raadio 2 Raadio 2 is Estonian radio station. It belongs to Estonian Public Broadcasting (formerly Estonian Radio) and started broadcasting on 1 May 1993. History In the course of the radio reform, Vikerraadio was merged with the I program (the name rem ...

. The song's music video was released on Kerli's

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channel on 21 March 2019. The second single "Better" was released on 18 January 2019 and the third and final before the album's release, "Legends", on 8 February 2019. The day before its official released, the album was premiered via

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channel ''MrSuicideSheep''. A vinyl release of the album was announced in June of 2021 from Diggers Factory.

Background

Composition

Singles and promotion

Track listing

Charts

Release history

References