Rita Ora has teased her next album will be “a bit darker” and “a bit more spicy”.
The 38-year-old pop star has declared she is entering her “uncomfortable era” with her follow-up to 2023’s ‘You and I’.
In an interview with Billboard, she said: “This album is something I’m actually really excited about.
“I’m spending the rest of the year making it. I’m feeling super, super inspired creatively, just having that essence of feeling a bit like not everything is perfect, which was kind of my motive with this. Everything’s just a bit left like that. Sonically, feeling a bit darker, a bit more spicy, a bit more aggressive, just getting in my like, uncomfortable era.”
So far, fans have heard the single ‘Ask and You Shall Receive’.
Meanwhile, Rita has promised she is “definitely touring” in 2025.
The ‘I Will Never Let You Down’ hitmaker will drop her album sometime next year and is counting down the days until she is back out on the road, dubbing it her “favourite part” of her music career.
Rita told a US outlet, via The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre column: “I’m definitely touring with this new record that I’m going to put out next year. I wanted to change it up. All the festivals I’ve been doing this summer have been so much fun.
“Getting to perform live is my favourite part. I hate the studio. I love seeing the crowd and I really connect with the energy. The tour is the only reason I put music out.”
Last month, Rita admitted she is taking the record “one song at a time”.
She told Bizarre: “The album is going really well. I’m taking it just one song at a time to be honest.
“I’m not sure it will be ready for this year though. But the great thing about my label [BMG] is that I have the time and they are really chill like that.”
‘You And I’ was heavily inspired by her relationship with Hollywood star Taika Waititi and their 2022 wedding.
However, she wanted to move on from that as her source of inspiration, and instead find a different spark for her music.
She explained: “I’m a bit bored of that now [as inspiration].
“I want my music to move on, have fun and do what makes me feel good.
“If it doesn’t make me feel good, I’m not doing it, and I’ve found that very liberating.”