Cee Lo Green: Music to My Ears music video pays tribute to New Orleans

Cee Lo Green has released two singles from his forthcoming album, Heart Blanche, due out Nov. 13, and now EW is pleased to premiere the project’s next track and its music video, “Music To My Soul.”

While “Robin Williams,” the record’s first single, very clearly pays tribute to the late actor, “Music To My Soul” aims to be more universal. But like the second single, “Sign of the Times,” it has a universal message of honoring humanity. Green says that theme is what ties the whole new album together.

“The term ‘Heart Blanche’ essentially means freedom to feel and fantasize; to open wide, explore, escape, and ultimately, finding the way that works for you, even if it’s the road less traveled,” Green tells EW in an email. “I was able to select songs written seemingly from a stream of consciousness that makes a statement or tells a story. Hopefully, the listener identifies with the tangible truths in each song as the common thread connecting them together.”

But the track wasn’t written by Green. Instead, he says, “an admirer” wrote “Music To My Soul.”

“I was flattered to sing it,” he says. “It was nice to know someone had noticed our collective work wealth and contribution. As the dungeon family, I considered it a gift that sat at my feet and I sang it to share what had been given to me.”

Its music video features a funeral procession, jazz band procession, and a New Orleans-style celebration of life. When making the vid, Green says he tried to find exuberance despite the depiction of death. “It’s about culture, community and commitment to the death,” he says. “So what you see is a celebration of life in the grandest fashion like only New Orleans can bring to existence.” See the video below:

Green first announced Heart Blanche in June after staying relatively quiet for months following his controversial 2014 tweets, when he ignited fans and critics by tweeting offensive comments about sexual assault. (Green later apologized.) He took a hiatus to work on Heart Blanche and Atlantic Records CEO/co-chairman Craig Kallman told Billboard earlier this year that Green worked with artists and producers like Mark Ronson, Charlie Puth, Eg White, Wallpaper, and John Hill during the recording process.