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Tuesday, May 30, 2023 11:00am ET by  
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Rita Ora on Her Upcoming Album: “My Life Evolved”

Rita Ora's new album You and I - which is out on July 14 - reflects how much she has "grown up" over the "past few years".

The 32-year-old pop star has revealed that writing the follow-up to 2018's Phoenix from her diary entries made her realise just how much has changed in her life. Ora is quoted by The Sun newspaper's Bizarre column as saying: "Over the past few years, I’ve just grown up. My life evolved. I started journaling and those journals turned into songs. If you’re being vulnerable with your songs you have to be honest.

"That is the magic. Diving into songwriting with this album has been an eye-opener."

The album documents the chapters of her relationship with her director spouse Taika Waititi. Ora, who has co-written each of the tracks on the record, said in a statement: "This album really means a lot to me.

"It's like my diary of the last few years, it's my sound and it just feels so true to me and who I am today."

The singer recently also shared her and Fatboy Slim's re-working of his 90s hit "Praise You", "Praising You" (watch below). The pair's collaboration came after they had a chance meeting in the fields of Glastonbury festival. Norman Cook aka Fatboy Slim recalled: "From a chance meeting late one night in the Naughty Corner at Glastonbury a friendship and collaboration grew that on paper may look unlikely. Yet here it is, and it has a life of its own!"

The 59-year-old "Right Here, Right No" hitmaker praised Ora for breathing "new life" into the song. He told her in an interview with The Big Issue out now: "While we're blowing smoke up each other's a****, you breathe new life into it. I've listened to that tune an awful lot and it is easy to get jaded about it, but you've definitely taken it in a different direction for me."

Ora wrote from the perspective of being head-over-heels in love. She said: "The way I wrote it was being madly in love with someone and having fun with that person. When you love a person you do praise them. You feel like they can do no wrong. So that's what my version of the record is about."

The promo to accompany the tune was helmed by Academy Award winner Waititi, 47, who Ora tied the knot with last year. "Praising You" followed the release of her solo single "You Only Love Me" earlier this year, which marked the star's first release on BMG, and both tracks are on the new album. The "Anywhere" singer poured her heart and soul into the emotional pop song about "feeling vulnerable at the very start of her romantic journey." Her other half's voice memo is played at the start of the track.

Pre-order "You and I" via Ora's official store and all other major platforms.

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