Tems Teases Mellow R&B Sound For Second Album

Tems described a more R&B-focused sound for her second album as she worked on the follow-up to Born in the Wild.

The singer outlined the mood of the new music in an EE72 cover interview, offering a glimpse of where she wanted to take her next full-length project.

Tems said, “It’s definitely more R&B leaning. It’s more melancholic. It’s like a river, it’s very smooth. It’s very mellow, lo-fi.”

She also broke down how she built songs without writing lyrics on paper.

For “Raindance,” her collaboration with Dave, she said she recorded a 30-minute freestyle on her phone. The team then assembled the song from that session.

That approach produced a major hit. “Raindance” reached No. 1 on the U.K.’s Official Singles Chart in January and spent two weeks at the top.

Her own recordings sometimes took a much longer path to release. Tems said she wrote “What You Need” seven years earlier while dealing with a breakup. The song eventually appeared on Love Is a Kingdom, her seven-track EP released in November 2025 through RCA Records/Since ’93.

Tems handled nearly all of that EP’s writing, composition and production. Its arrival between albums gave listeners another project largely built by the singer herself, with songs centered on love, self-worth, and faith.

That control over her sound began before her breakthrough. While in college, she struggled to find producers willing to help make the music she wanted.

She turned to online tutorials and Logic, learning to record and produce in her dorm room before releasing “Mr Rebel” in 2018.

On her 2024 debut, she made room for several sounds across 18 tracks. “You in My Face” drew on R&B and soul, while “T-Unit” leaned into rap. J. Cole also joined her on “Free Fall,” a P2J-produced track.

Tems had already pushed back against the idea that one genre should dictate her next move.

Speaking to the Recording Academy around the debut’s release, she said, “Every artist has the power and ability to define themselves. Every artist is in charge of how they view themselves.”

She did not give her second album a title or release date in the EE72 interview.