Ari Lennox is back with a brand-new single, “Soft Girl Era,” which she released to celebrate her birthday today. Produced by Bryan Michael Cox and Jermaine Dupri, the song is a departure from the DC singer’s traditional, neo-soul-inspired material. Instead, it employs a sparse, percussion-driven beat with a funky bassline to provide a backdrop for Ari’s confident demands for displays love and affection — both emotional and material.

“Baby, that’s a million dollars in the mirror,” she coos. “Step back, get back, can’t get near her / Ain’t tryna do nothing but look pretty in here / Hurry up and put me in my soft girl era.” The resulting effect is an affectionate homage to the 2000s 106&Park faves that she grew up on, arriving just in time to catch a rising wave of millennial nostalgia in pop and hip-hop music.

It also builds on the groundwork laid by her October single “Smoke” and its November follow-up “Just Like That” with Jessie Reyez. It seems she may have worked out her dispute with her label, Dreamville, and is back on track to release her third studio album sometime this year. She’s also billed to perform at the label’s final Dreamville Festival, so maybe her concerns were only temporary.

You can check out Ari’s new single, “Soft Girl Era,” up top.