Released: September 15
Veering away from R&B and soul in favour of a bold new direction, Corinne Bailey Rae makes a statement on her epic fourth album.
‘Black Rainbows’ is inspired by the objects and artworks collected by Theaster Gates at the Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago, with the work including a collection of songs, the book ‘Refraction/Reflection Of The Arts Bank’ as photographed by Koto Bolofo, live performances, visuals, lectures and exhibitions.
“I knew when I walked through those doors that my life had changed forever,” says the musician. “Engaging with these archives and encountering Theaster Gates and his practice has changed how I think about myself as an artist and what the possibilities of my work can be. This music has come through seeing. Seeing has been like hearing, for me. While I was looking, songs/sounds appeared.”
Leading the record is the track New York Transit Queen; a post-punk glam extravaganza, clocking in at just 1.49 and turning on its head everything that’s come to define a lead single. Instead, the track spotlights Miss New York Transit 1954, Audrey Smaltz, a Black pioneer who rose through the fashion world and whose winning photograph grabbed Corinne’s attention..
It’s one of a range of subject matters on the record, which spans themes from the rock hewn churches of Ethiopia to to the journeys of Black Pioneers westward.
A concept piece at its core, her latest work is a far cry from those commercial pop records of the mid-2000s and spans a spectrum of genres. Opener A Spell, A Prayer begins much like the neo soul of her previous releases before building to a trippy, psychedelic soundscape that proves enchanting, while Erasure conjures its title by distorting her vocals with white noise, leaving the listener no choice but to pay close attention.
With an overwhelming air of mystery, He Will Follow You With His Eyes explores how Blackness is often seen as ‘other’ under the white gaze, to the point of fetishization in its closing moments; heavy hitting themes that are woven into the narrative of each track and, much like the artworks that backdrop the LP, unravel within a wider context.
In tackling wider issues, the narrative often centres back to the artist; the transcendent ballad Peach Velvet Sky, for example, is inspired by the true story of Harriet Jacobs told through her autobiography, ‘Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl’, which Corinne originally read as a child.
Together, the project speaks of a musician connecting with her culture and heritage on a deeper level, immersing herself in the pages of history and translating centuries of experiences into music for what will unquestionably become a defining album in her career.
