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Oct 18, 2023 By Mark Redfern Photography by Brit O'Brien

Dawn Richard has shared two new songs, “Babe Ruth” and “Your Love / Legends,” with the former shared via a music video. The songs join “Bubblegum,” a new song she shared in April, to form the new EP (or epoch as Richard is calling it), The Architect, which is out now on Merge. Listen to the songs below.

Richard had this to say about The Architect in a press release: “I’ve always had a fascination with the concept of a ‘traditional single release.’ How the industry tells you, in order to have a successful single, it has to be a certain amount of minutes to be played on radio, or streamed, or on a chart. I say fuck that. I never agreed with that construct. I wanted to create a single that was similar to a conceptual album. If you take away the idea that it has to be for radio, that it has to be a clean edit, that it has to be a specific thing in order to be successful, what would be the outcome? Epoch 1.”

Of “Babe Ruth,” which is inspired by Richard’s career as an All Star Softball catcher, she says: “I wanted to collaborate with more women producers and DJs. I really appreciate Gina Jeanz and what she’s creating, and contacted her to see if she’d work with me on this record. Between Wes and Taylor, Gina Jeanz and I, we wanted to make a hybrid of sounds that make you want to shake your ass.”

“Bubblegum” was one of our Songs of the Week.

Last year Richard teamed up with Spencer Zahn for the collaborative experimental album, Pigments, which came out in October via Merge.

In 2021, Richard released the solo album Second Line: An Electro Revival.

Dawn Richard Tour Dates:

Fri. Nov. 10 - London, UK @ Pitchfork London
Sat. Nov. 11 - London, UK @ London Jazz Festival

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