Dawn Richard

Dawn Richard – Second Line (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 51:14 minutes | 581 MB | Genre: R&B, Pop, Electronic, Female Vocal
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Merge Records

Much like the New Orleans–born artist who created it, Second Line is an unapologetic genre bender that pushes boundaries, expands possibilities, and shatters expectations. It’s more than just an album: Second Line is a cohesive sensory experience that questions traditional ideas of sound, production, and visual aesthetics as they relate to music. Its interlocking parts tell an epic story about the quest for artistic expression, with Dawn describing her project as “a movement to bring pioneering Black women in electronic music to the forefront.”

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Dawn Richard – Redemption (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 47:25 minutes | 552 MB | Genre: R&B
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Local Action

Dawn Angeliqué Richard, the daughter of Chocolate Milk percussionist and vocalist Frank Richard, known professionally as Dawn Richard or D∆WN, is an American singer-songwriter, actress and animator. “Redemption” is her fourth studio album. Upon its release, Redemption received widespread acclaim from critics. Tara Joshi of Quietus stated “It’s orchestral, it’s odd, it’s experimental, it’s ornate, it makes you want to dance, it makes you want to swoon – at its heart Redemption is reflective of so many touchstones of black music from the past 30 years or so. It feels odd to say what Richard is doing is still perhaps too niche to get her a place in the R&B ‘Hot 100’, given her sound is so broad and all-encompassing, but its true. Richard has carved out an ambitiously futuristic place for herself that the mainstream hasn’t quite caught up with yet”.

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Dawn Richard – New Breed (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 32:32 minutes | 362 MB | Genre: R&B, Soul, Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Local Action

A trilogy of expansive albums plus a crop of intermediary releases and featured appearances did not deplete Dawn Richard’s reserve. On New Breed, her first major release since Redemption, the label-defiant marvel again switches up her supporting co-producers and cooks up another half-hour of authoritative progressive pop. Cosmopolitan as ever and adaptive to each backdrop, whether it includes percolating Germanic synthesizers, elastic disco-funk basslines, or window-shaking drums, Richard also keeps her New Orleans hometown at the fore, honoring her Washitaw Nation heritage, indulging in flashbacks, and incorporating musical references that are either understated or happenstance. She rejects any expectation and tag that is not self-assigned. The title track contains a verse that begins with “F*ck the heels and dress” and ends with a dismissive “I’m the motherf*cking king, yeah,” and later uses as punctuation a vintage soundbite from artistic antecedent Grace Jones. The lack of inhibition transfers into the several romantic escapades, like when her partner is urged to “Live flagrant, make people nervous,” or to “Keep it comin’ ’til I can’t move.” Although Richard is resolutely combatant, only strengthened by each being or systemic force in her way, she’s not above writing about her envy and insecurity — as an impenitent wanting “petty to win tonight” as she is when she’s fighting for the upliftment of black women. Even when the subtle power of Richard’s voice is diminished slightly by trouble or distress, it’s advisable to be on the singer’s side or out of the way. ~ Andy Kellman

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