The arty R&B explorer Dawn Richard has gone down many fascinating paths over the years, and she has radiated strength through all of it, whether testifying against Sean Combs or making experimental records with Spencer Zahn. Today, she announces her new album Creole Culture. Like a couple of Richard's past records, 2019's New Breed and 2021's Second Line, the new one is an homage to Richard's roots as a Black and Native American woman from New Orleans.
Earlier this summer, Dawn Richard shared her Durand Bernarr duet "baby, can we?" That song appears on Creole Culture. Richard recorded the album with Katalyst, the LA-based collective founded by jazz drummer and producer Greg Paul. The LP also has appearances from Big Freedia, Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph, Tarriona “Tank” Ball, and Richard's father Frank Richard, of the old New Orleans soul/funk band Chocolate Milk. For this record, Richard has adapted an alter-ego that she calls King Creole. In a press release, Dawn Richard says:
New Breed was the story of New Orleans through my father’s eyes. I used his samples, his music, his cultures, his work with Chocolate Milk, his side of the family. Second Line was my mom — her interludes riddled the album with her depiction of what is meant to be a Creole woman in New Orleans. The masculine and feminine sides of King Creole had expressed themselves through them, but the story felt unfinished, like my version of the story was untold...
Creole Culture is my way of saying that New Orleans culture doesn’t have to live in the past to be authentic. It can be progressive. It can be global. It can be pop culture. It can look like me.
Today, Richard shares her new song "Enough," a lush and euphoric R&B reverie built on a sample of Sister Nancy's early dancehall classic "Bam Bam." Below, check out that song, the Creole Culture tracklist, and Richard's upcoming live shows.
TRACKLIST:
01 "a creole culture intro" (feat. Big Freedia)
02 "enough"
03 "only fans"
04 "chuuuuurch" (feat. Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph)
05 "groove city" (feat. Chocolate Milk's Frank Richard)
06 "l v r" (feat. Tarriona “Tank” Ball)
07 "pilates"
08 "baby, can we?" (feat. Durand Bernarr)
09 "motives"
10 "fiesta"
11 "faith in the fire"
TOUR DATES:
8/08 - Chicago, IL @ Northalsted Market Days
10/02 - New Orleans, LA @ Orpheum Theater *
11/04 - New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge
11/05 - Philadelphia PA - Music Hall @ World Cafe Live
11/07 - Washington DC @ Transmission
* with Tank And The Bangas & the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra
Creole Culture is out 10/9 on Merge. Pre-order it here.
