The purpose built next generation interstellar Dawn Richard thread

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Holy shit this album.

Listening to "Swim Free" right now and I just. Dawn. Wow.

Tim F, Thursday, 15 January 2015 21:13 (nine years ago) link

On my second play now and this is already way, way better than Goldenheart and for that matter better than any album I heard in 2014. I still feel like the last album was a slog and frustratingly linear whereas this one is so much lighter on its feet, full of twists and turns and sonic surprises around every corner.

I don't know what I expected from 'Calypso' but it certainly wasn't Moby's 'Go' as remixed by the Aphex Twin with hyperactive Robodawns skittering everywhere. I can probably do without 'Blow' and 'Billie Jean' but the 'Adderall' -> 'Projection' stretch is just astonishing, every song has a moment about two-thirds of the way through when it brings in a new melodic element that just slays you emotionally and yes 'Swim Free' is amazing. The whole section is proof that Dawn is at her best when she's at her most gooey.

How did Dawn with all her massive comic book guy nerdery get this far through her career and only JUST get round to writing songs called 'Titans', 'Warriors' and 'Castles'? Also is that an actual chopped-and-screwed Jimi Hendrix voice lurking in the mix during 'Castles'?

By the time you get into the final stretch you feel like Dawn has actually earned herself a massive fake-Sia Furler thud like 'Phoenix', but even that's full of interesting sonic details, and I love how it teases you with the military drums and waiting until the final go round before whacking them in for the chorus. Also 'The Deep' is just gorgeous, those Strawberry Fields organ sounds that come in towards the end! And it's not an exact fit but those chiming pentatonic synths in the outro do actually remind me a bit of Aphex at his most self-consciously pretty actually.

There's just so much going on here. It's a much more fitting successor to Armor On and a much better fit for the "R&B Hounds of Love" claim Lex made before the last album.

Matt DC, Thursday, 15 January 2015 21:43 (nine years ago) link

goldenheart's pacing kinda sinks it for me, i heard almost all of it out of order last night and was like "i love this song! i also love this song! man i should go back to this" and still have trouble getting more than a few tracks in

emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Thursday, 15 January 2015 21:45 (nine years ago) link

Yeah I agree that Goldenheart's individual parts suggest a record that is much more captivating than one's memory of listening to the entire thing tends to be.

Although this doesn't necessarily map onto the question of which album is better/worse, I feel like Goldenheart was very "essence of Dawn", which is part of why it feels so monolithic (in ways that can be experienced as a positive or a drawback).

Whereas (and this is very early days for me so usual caveats apply) Blackheart feels more relational, Dawn drawing on all of these ideas and approaches from outside of herself and then feeding them through the matrix of her stylistic/thematic concerns.

It also feels like maybe the first album that deliberately sets out to deconstruct R&B from the inside (this is a bold claim I reserve the right to abandon later).

Tim F, Thursday, 15 January 2015 22:04 (nine years ago) link

I'm also idly wondering if 'Beyonce' might have emboldened Dawn to really go all out for these textural multi-part epics as well.

Matt DC, Thursday, 15 January 2015 22:09 (nine years ago) link

i really wish i'd had time to set up an interview etc, i'd love to know how this album changed shape over the years - we know she'd conceptualised it pre-goldenheart, presumably intending to make the entire trilogy with druski. then when that fell apart she looked like she was ploughing ahead anyway with "judith" and "valkyrie", then aborted that for danity kane...so how much of this was written pre-DK, how much during DK and how much in the last couple of months? aundrea's presence on "phoenix" suggests that one probably came out of the DK sessions

lex pretend, Thursday, 15 January 2015 22:10 (nine years ago) link

though it didn't involve any of the DK producers?

(production credits: "castles" by swagg r'celious, everything else noisecastle iii & dawn richard)

lex pretend, Thursday, 15 January 2015 22:12 (nine years ago) link

a quick google: swagg r'celious hitherto best known for working with K MICHELLE! and deej's beloved kehlani

lex pretend, Thursday, 15 January 2015 22:13 (nine years ago) link

dawn talked about retreating to "the woods" post-dk and seemed to imply a lot of this record came out of how she was feeling around then

emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Thursday, 15 January 2015 22:13 (nine years ago) link

Argh what does the housey thumb piano on 'Warriors' remind me of? It's something LDN and relatively recent (like last six years or so) and it's really bugging me.

Matt DC, Thursday, 15 January 2015 22:14 (nine years ago) link

lol she also implied that redemptionheart is basically done

emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Thursday, 15 January 2015 22:14 (nine years ago) link

Man, I care so much more for "Goldenheart" than "Armor On", it got more play than any other record in 2013 round my house, and my first half-pass through "Blackheart" was difficult. It's possible I was just smitten with Druski and not Dawn :/ but I'm gonna immerse myself in everything, listen a lot and get to the bottom of this

my booty it clean (fgti), Thursday, 15 January 2015 22:16 (nine years ago) link

re: Bjorkisms, "Calypso" scans to me as a more focused take on what "Crystalline" was doing

btw "Blow" just started and I fucking love this shit so far, like no qualms or reservations at all

Let me help you out Charlie XCX fan (DJP), Thursday, 15 January 2015 22:22 (nine years ago) link

Yeah I was trying to work out why the drill and bass bits on Biophilia sounded so lame whereas here it feels like a total natural and right aesthetic choice to make, I suspect it's partly an issue of timing but also there's a lot more effort to actually integrate the beats into the song rather than tacking them on the end.

Matt DC, Thursday, 15 January 2015 22:24 (nine years ago) link

(don't misunderstand me, I love "Crystalline" but it's the only Biophilia song I ever play and it doesn't feel nearly as well put-together as "Calypso" does based on one listen)

Let me help you out Charlie XCX fan (DJP), Thursday, 15 January 2015 22:26 (nine years ago) link

ha I made the same connexion to "Crystalline"

my booty it clean (fgti), Thursday, 15 January 2015 22:27 (nine years ago) link

this album really feels like Dawn sat down and said "let me make an album that panders directly to the musical tastes of DJP, I'm sure he'll appreciate it"

Let me help you out Charlie XCX fan (DJP), Thursday, 15 January 2015 23:05 (nine years ago) link

(I do, btw)

Let me help you out Charlie XCX fan (DJP), Thursday, 15 January 2015 23:06 (nine years ago) link

I guess unsurprisingly this album took flight for me and bf when the melodic songs kicked in ("Castles" onward) and Dawn gets up into her upper register

my booty it clean (fgti), Friday, 16 January 2015 01:05 (nine years ago) link

"The Deep" now on repeat for the next four months, ttyl

my booty it clean (fgti), Friday, 16 January 2015 01:09 (nine years ago) link

All the Bjork references itt otm, that was my first thought -- if Rihanna made a Bjork album, or Bjork made a Rihanna album. I've only been through it once but want to put it on again immediately. There's a lot to hear and absorb.

I love how fearless it is. It's easy to go with the weirdness, because it all feels so assured -- she knows where she's going.

something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Friday, 16 January 2015 02:46 (nine years ago) link

So... is that mask on the cover going on or coming off?

longneck, Friday, 16 January 2015 05:45 (nine years ago) link

oh shit the Percolator synths on "Calypso". I'm already in love with this album

The Reverend, Friday, 16 January 2015 06:08 (nine years ago) link

officially back on the train, y'all

The Reverend, Friday, 16 January 2015 06:29 (nine years ago) link

Haha wow I've just realised that Calypso reappropriates BOTH Twin Peaks themes, I hadn't noticed the opening credits music in the bridge before.

Matt DC, Friday, 16 January 2015 07:26 (nine years ago) link

"Jettisoning her independent freedom in favor of cookie-cutter girl-group pop she already managed to escape once, it turned out the group couldn't contain her anyway. The reunion only lasted a few months, resulting in a nearly-unlistenable album and an alleged physical altercation involving Richard." - this is just stupid.

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/20104-blackheart/

Nourry, Friday, 16 January 2015 14:29 (nine years ago) link

I think this board seriously underestimates what a tough sell Dawn Richard is to non-converts. On the surface, her resume looks pretty dire. Danity Kane was not a well-respected band, and the Diddy association is a turnoff to a lot of people who haven't actually heard the DDM album (or who only heard that one moronic Skylar Grey single)

― Evan R, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 3:15 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I think anything can be spun.

Weeknd fans who want to embrace this can convince themselves that she is busting out of the constraints of major label R&B and that Diddy wasn't smart enough to realise her genius.

― Tim F, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 05:29 (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

prolego, Friday, 16 January 2015 15:09 (nine years ago) link

"independent freedom"

guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 16 January 2015 15:21 (nine years ago) link

please let me know other kinds

guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 16 January 2015 15:21 (nine years ago) link

still absorbing this, but it's really impressive on first listen if maybe a touch overwhelming/ear-exhausting. I mostly stopped trying to track the stand-out moments halfway through, but as someone who found Goldenheart to be unrelenting, I really like how "Swim Free" is positively minimalist for her, ftgi otm re: The Deep, and I like that her pronunciation of "warriors" reminds me of Johnny Osbourne (pvmic).

rob, Friday, 16 January 2015 18:32 (nine years ago) link

Idk what difference it makes, but fwiw, A. Ryce's background is mostly in dance music.

The Reverend, Friday, 16 January 2015 20:11 (nine years ago) link

writers from a dance background have been worse at r&b than writers from an indie background over the last few years, and the most insistent on setting up a new value system for it

lex pretend, Friday, 16 January 2015 20:57 (nine years ago) link

I feel that.

The Reverend, Friday, 16 January 2015 20:58 (nine years ago) link

tbh the strawman of "indie r&b" has been more about r&b as interpreted through dance values

by dance i don't mean, like, fun dance, i mean nerdy white boy dance

lex pretend, Friday, 16 January 2015 20:59 (nine years ago) link

ha which is ironic given how indebted this album is to nerdy white boy dance

The Reverend, Friday, 16 January 2015 21:06 (nine years ago) link

"nerdy white boy dance" critics have basically set up a kind of indie mindset within dance anyway so the differences can be difficult to detect sometimes.

Tim F, Friday, 16 January 2015 21:14 (nine years ago) link

Having said that the section of the review actually about the album doesn't strike me as nerdy white boy dance writing: it's very focused on Dawn's persona in these songs and frequently lauds her projection of strength.

Tim F, Friday, 16 January 2015 21:22 (nine years ago) link

are there any other reviews of this live?

The Reverend, Friday, 16 January 2015 21:29 (nine years ago) link

I usually hate listening to music on headphones (for physical comfort reasons) but this album is such a revelation on them.

The Reverend, Friday, 16 January 2015 22:36 (nine years ago) link

I think after 4-5 listens, "Calypso", "Swim Free", "Projection" are my early favorites.

The Reverend, Friday, 16 January 2015 22:39 (nine years ago) link

There's also this one: http://pressplayok.com/review-dawn-richard-blackheart/

Nourry, Friday, 16 January 2015 23:18 (nine years ago) link

needed some time with the album before i came here to talk about it but i love love love it. it's so different from GoldenHeart, which I loved but still so Dawn.

Blow works way better in its new mix/in the album context.

I managed to rip an audio track from the video version of Tide I bought on iTunes, but not sure where it goes on the album. Is it just going to be a bonus track or is it being mixed into the middle of the album somewhere for the vinyl version.

(also...VINYL VERSION? Was there a vinyl version of GoldenHeart I missed out on somehow?)

twinkin' and drinkin' and ready to fly (Alex in Montreal), Saturday, 17 January 2015 02:05 (nine years ago) link

castles is a fucking bop

bae sremmurd (monotony), Saturday, 17 January 2015 02:28 (nine years ago) link

jaw first dropped halfway through adderall i think and it's been agape ever since

bae sremmurd (monotony), Saturday, 17 January 2015 02:29 (nine years ago) link

also is the limited vinyl version with Tide being made commercially available or was it just for people at that listening session? the internet is suggesting the latter.

twinkin' and drinkin' and ready to fly (Alex in Montreal), Saturday, 17 January 2015 02:37 (nine years ago) link

idk!

emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Saturday, 17 January 2015 06:40 (nine years ago) link

also haven't listened to the vinyl yet but when i do i'll let you knwo where "tide" lands

emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Saturday, 17 January 2015 06:40 (nine years ago) link

apparently according to her twitter there's no CD release for BlackHeart - just the limited vinyl. every 'era' gets a different physical format and GoldenHeart got CD.

twinkin' and drinkin' and ready to fly (Alex in Montreal), Saturday, 17 January 2015 08:57 (nine years ago) link

reading through the old pats of the thread and vaguely disappointed about this

Dawn Richard / NEON ‏@DawnRichard
“@drewscotty: Heartillery will be on "Blackheart" Album #HEARTS. We made the song a lot darker to fit that theme.”album 2 already bein done!

cause as amazing as Noisecastle III's production on BlackHeart is, it sounded as though there was an earlier version of BlackHeart that was substantially complete before its release was put on pause for the Danity Kane reunion - it was originally supposed to come out in the fall of 2013, iirc and then got bumped so the recording of DK3 wouldn't stop Dawn from touring and promoting BlackHeart.

Which means there's an entire Dawn Richard/Druski album that disappeared into the ether and it included a song called 'Heartillery'.

twinkin' and drinkin' and ready to fly (Alex in Montreal), Saturday, 17 January 2015 10:16 (nine years ago) link

Dawn's afrofuturism makes everyone else's sound rote.

The Reverend, Saturday, 17 January 2015 10:20 (nine years ago) link


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