“I don’t need a genre / F*ck it — I am the genre,” Dawn Richard firmly sings on the “King Creole (Intro)” of her new album Second Line.
The new LP is the ever-morphing diva’s first full-length project since 2019’s New Breed and her first under the Merge Records imprint.
Best known for producing songs on her own terms, Richard’s Second Line is no different and follows the native tradition of its title, as declared in the lead-in soundbite of “Bussifame,” the album’s lead single.
“A second line is a dance where everybody is happy, and they’re doing how they feel. They don’t necessarily have any set steps to do. They’re just getting down,” explainsed Richard’s mother, Debbie.
“I’m celebrating the death of old views in the industry,” Richard adds regarding the album’s title. “The death of boxes and limits. I’m celebrating the homecoming of the Future. The homecoming to the new wave of artists. The emergence of all the King Creoles to come. This is our revival.”
“Pressure” is a tempo-varying track about Richard experiencing a case of restless butterflies as she talks herself up to speak to a romantic interest. She is later caught in a gust of love wind with her desired mate on “Perfect Storm.”
Much of the other tracks on Second Line are pop-R&B thumpers with head-knocking underground dance vibes. “Boomerang” and “Nostalgia” are clear-cut examples, highlighting topics like a bounce-back love and pondering on the good times of a past relationship.
Second Line is jammed-packed with interludes or, as she puts it, “(a lude)” like the fierce “Pilot (a lude)” and the bass-heavy “FiveOhFour (a lude).” Both were released ahead of the album with videos.
Richard’s latest LP also includes early tracks “Mornin | Streetlights” and “Jacuzzi.”
Stream Dawn Richard’s new album Second Line below.
