Emily King Announces New Album 'Special Occasion,' Plots North American Tour

If you weren't aware, today's actually a special occasion! No, it's not simply the merciful final day of February — R&B troubadour Emily King has announced her new album, led by golden single "Medal."

Special Occasion arrives on May 5 via ATO. It follows 2020's Sides and 2019's Scenery to continue her impeccably satisfying alliterative streak.

"It's about trying to find some kind of light in the middle of your hardest times: those moments when you don't really have anything to celebrate, you're just alone and sitting in those feelings and trying to make sense of it all," King said of the 11-track album, which includes a collaboration with Lukas Nelson, in a statement. Ahead of the new single, she initially previewed Special Occasion with the release of "This Year" back in December.

Of "Medal," the singer-songwriter continued:

I'd had this melody in my head for a very long time. It was a slow song until I got in the studio with my producer [Jeremy Most] and we picked up the tempo. He started playing this funky bassline on the chorus and it was like instant joy! The lyric was "I wanna be the girl with the medal" like, I want that shiny feeling you get when the person you have a crush on gives you their attention. These days though, I've been singing the song to myself which gives it a slightly different meaning. Like, "Hey you are the prize girl! You are the medal and you already won yourself!" Ha. Makes me feel good and then I get to dancing.

King will also take the new music out on the road this spring with a North American tour, featuring a Canadian stop in Toronto on May 8.