Posting on Instagram, Mvula wrote: “SAFE PASSAGE IS OUT NOW! … happy tears people x”
A video has been released for the track, featuring the singer performing wearing a shoulder-padded blazer in bright lights. The song also has a distinctive eighties feel, with bold synth sounds. 

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Fans were delighted at Mvula’s return. 

@BVSCPhil posted: “I love this song soooo much. Had it on all morning! So glad to have new music from you, cannot wait for the album now. Please tell me you plan to tour too.” 

@JonasJRichter wrote: “Love it! Your voice and singing are energizing and inviting, and I feel better listening to your music. Thank you!” 

@StarkExpo17 added: “I’m in love with the song! As usual your voice is absolutely beautiful and I can’t wait to hear the rest of the album!” 

Speaking about the track, Mvula said: “Safe Passage is a poem about the vehicle that takes us all from the space where we feel like we’re drowning, and we’re trapped to the promised land, which actually exists. It’s not a dream, it’s not a fictional place. We can go there. We can go there like right now. We just have to tap into ourselves to our love relationships. ‘Safe Passage’ evokes that feeling in me. It reminds me of a time when feeling positive emotions was much simpler, much less complicated.” 

Mvula released her first EP, She, at the end of November 2012, and was nominated for the BBC Sound of 2013 and for the Critics’ Choice Awards at the Brits the following year. Both of her albums, 2013’s Sing to the Moon and 2016’s The Dreaming Room, were nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in their respective years of release. In 2017 it was announced that she had been dropped by her record label Sony. 

Last month, Mvula released EP 1/f, featuring some revamped versions of her songs alongside a cover of Diana Ross’ I’m Still Waiting. During her livestream, she performed four new songs from her upcoming album – Safe Passage, Conditional, What Matters and Church Girl.