Dawn Richard heralds a new era with a trio of songs, The Architect

Envisioned as one long seamless body of work, The Architect weaves from the instrumental opening of “Your Love / Legends” to dance-pop track “Bubblegum” and “Babe Ruth" which is released today.

Speaking of The Architect, Richard says: “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.”

“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,” comments Richard on “Babe Ruth.” The song’s video strips away the bells and whistles, and is all about the dance.

Over the span of six critically acclaimed full-length albums, Dawn Richard treats Louisiana Creole culture, New Orleans bounce, and Southern Swag as elemental, allowing her to weave in and out of house, footwork, R&B, and more. As she proudly proclaimed on her album Second Line: “I am the genre.”

This new release follows her latest album, Pigments, a collaborative album released last October with multi-instrumentalist, producer, and composer Spencer Zahn.