{"product_id":"dawn-richard-creole-culture","title":"Dawn Richard - Creole Culture","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCreole Culture\u003c\/em\u003e is the triumphant return of \u003cstrong\u003eDawn Richard\u003c\/strong\u003e’s King Creole era. Steeped in history but with its flag planted firmly in the future, \u003cem\u003eCreole Culture\u003c\/em\u003e pulls elements from Richard’s heritage as a Black and Native American woman who has spent a lifetime making and engaging with music. Following \u003cem\u003eNew Breed\u003c\/em\u003e (2019) and \u003cem\u003eSecond Line\u003c\/em\u003e (2021), \u003cem\u003eCreole Culture\u003c\/em\u003e is akin to a panel of a triptych: a fully-realized sonic and narrative universe in which Richard, as King Creole, rebuilds her hometown of New Orleans in her image. She not only honors her city for what it was or what it gave her, but stakes a claim for it as a cradle of global culture now and for all time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCreole Culture\u003c\/em\u003e follows two acclaimed avant-garde R\u0026amp;B albums with composer \u003cstrong\u003eSpencer Zahn\u003c\/strong\u003e — the later of which, 2024’s \u003cem\u003eQuiet in a World Full of Noise\u003c\/em\u003e, found Richard exorcising the specters of grief and trauma in the wake of her father \u003cstrong\u003eFrank Richard\u003c\/strong\u003e’s health struggles and the killing of her cousin Cisco. It is a softer take on the brass-soaked swagger of Richard’s previous King Creole efforts, an evolution brought about when she realized she had left a crucial viewpoint out of her exploration of New Orleans: her own. “\u003cem\u003eNew Breed\u003c\/em\u003e was the story of New Orleans through my father’s eyes,” Richard explains. “I used his samples, his music, his cultures, his work with \u003cstrong\u003eChocolate Milk\u003c\/strong\u003e, his side of the family. \u003cem\u003eSecond Line\u003c\/em\u003e 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.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat story is, for lack of a better word, complex: at turns triumphant and tragic, sexy and mournful, braggadocious and contemplative. \u003cem\u003eCreole Culture\u003c\/em\u003e presents Richard’s New Orleans as a utopian soundscape — an intoxicating blend of R\u0026amp;B, soul, hip-hop, pop, and jazz — that’s survived and thrived despite the dystopian circumstances visited upon it. Richard presents the melange of influence and artifact on \u003cem\u003eCreole Culture\u003c\/em\u003e with the care of a botanist nurturing new hybrids in a rose garden.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat emerges from that care is at once delightful and unexpected, enlisting a crew of guest stars including \u003cstrong\u003eBig Freedia\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eAnjelika “Jelly” Joseph\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eTarriona “Tank” Ball\u003c\/strong\u003e, and \u003cstrong\u003eDurand Bernarr\u003c\/strong\u003e for features that play against type. Tank’s turn at spoken word verse on \u003cem\u003el v r\u003c\/em\u003e serves to add dimension to King Creole’s New Orleans, as does Joseph’s undeniable voice on \u003cem\u003echuuuurch\u003c\/em\u003e. “I’m not normally a features girl,” says Richard, “but King Creole can’t build a world from scratch without help. What’s beautiful about the features here — which is also true of my band and producers — is they come from people who understand the materials of the world they’re from, they’re people I love, and they’re people who are just extraordinary at what they do. They’re part of the atmosphere of this place. You need them for the record to breathe.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the end, that’s what King Creole creates: a space where Dawn Richard can breathe, can be at peace with herself, and let loose with others. From finding love in opening single \u003cem\u003eenough\u003c\/em\u003e to relishing in the Afrocaribbean futurism of \u003cem\u003efiesta\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eCreole Culture\u003c\/em\u003e is a tremendous, freeing breath of fresh air. It captures the resolve of a woman and a place who’ve survived the unimaginable and sees the future not as something to be endured, but as something to be created. Dawn Richard has been making that future one album at a time over the course of her career. \u003cem\u003eCreole Culture\u003c\/em\u003e is her most stunning one yet.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MERGE RECORDS","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl LP","offer_id":58775541514585,"sku":"SDZ-49877","price":30.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"Translucent Champagne Wave Vinyl","offer_id":58775541743961,"sku":"SDZ-49878","price":30.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":58775541776729,"sku":"SDZ-49879","price":14.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0588\/3455\/0945\/files\/CAR_20260805_1515_141652_236_p_download_20260805141550_1_001.jpeg?v=1785942235","url":"https:\/\/spindizzyrecords.com\/products\/dawn-richard-creole-culture","provider":"Spindizzy Dublin","version":"1.0","type":"link"}