The purpose built next generation interstellar Dawn Richard thread

omifuckinggod "Adderall"

speaking of MJ, "Adderall" is like "Morphine" on ludes.

Excited for this.

that last minute or so of "warriors" *heart eyes emoji*

OH MY GOD THE WOODWIND SECTION IN "PROJECTION"

Jealous of your listening party situation Brad
Fuck what I'm doing I'm going home and putting this on

was breakfast-sandwich late to work this morning thinking I could just listen to a little bit on spotify before I left the apt

"Projection" just wrapping up now. Mildly disappointing first listen so far. "Goldenheart" was ace after ace of indelible melody, felt like it transcended space/time/genre convention. So far this sounds like some great production ideas coupled with a lot of unedited vocal improvs

Ooh that flute solo tho

But all the hookiest tracks on "Goldenheart" ("86", "Pretty Wicked Things", "In The Hearts Tonight") were early favourites, which gave way to the subtler stuff. Not gonna give up

OMFG this album.

I want to hug someone.

So far this sounds like some great production ideas coupled with a lot of unedited vocal improvs

was my initial fear but it really coheres on further listens

Holy shit this album.

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

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.

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

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).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

lol she also implied that redemptionheart is basically done

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

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

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.

(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)

ha I made the same connexion to "Crystalline"

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"

(I do, btw)

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

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

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.

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

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

officially back on the train, y'all

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.

"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/

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

"independent freedom"

please let me know other kinds

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).

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

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

I feel that.

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

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

"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.

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.