Corinne Bailey Rae kommer den 15 september med albumet Black Rainbows. Singeln New York Transit Queen ute nu!

Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae confirms her years-in-the-making Black Rainbowsproject. Inspired by the objects and artworks collected by Theaster Gates at the Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago, the work includes a collection of songs, a book Refraction/Reflection of the Arts Bank photographed by Koto Bolofo, live performances, visuals, lectures and exhibitions—a bold move from her previous work.

The album Black Rainbows is due for release September 15 via Thirty Tigers.

The first single, ‘New York Transit Queen’, which The Observer have described as “an exciting post-punk glam thrash… like Santigold dismantling Blur’s Song 2” is out now; listen/share here, and watch the video trailer here.

“I knew when I walked through those doors that my life had changed forever,” says Bailey Rae. “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.”

Wide ranging in its themes, Black Rainbows’ subjects are drawn from encounters with objects in the Arts Bank, a curated collection of Black archives comprising books, sculpture, records, furniture and problematic objects from America’s past. From the rock hewn churches of Ethiopia to the journeys of Black Pioneers westward, from Miss New York Transit 1957 to how the sunset appears from Harriet Jacobs’ loophole, Black Rainbows explores Black femininity, Spell Work, Inner Space/Outer Space, time collapse, ancestors and music as a vessel for transcendence.

In continued homage to African American art, Bailey Rae chose Amanda Williams and Koto Bolofo for the art direction and photography, respectively, of the project. Amanda Williams was recently honored as a 2022 Macarthur Fellow, with her work exhibited at highly acclaimed museums across the country notably New York’s Museum of Modern Art and Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art. In similar excellence, Koto Bolofo was awarded the 2022 Lucie Award for Achievement in Advertising in Photography, with his editorials featured in Vogue, Vanity Fair, GQ and many others.

In celebration of the new project, Bailey Rae is performing select shows across the US this autumn, with a number of shows in Spain and a very special performance in London’s Ladbroke Hall on October 25th.

CORINNE BAILEY RAE BLACK RAINBOWS

1. A Spell, A Prayer

2. Black Rainbows

3. Erasure

4. Earthlings

5. Red Horse

6. New York Transit Queen

7. He Will Follow You With His Eyes

8. Put It Down

9. Peach Velvet Sky

10. Before The Throne of Invisible God

ABOUT CORINNE BAILEY RAE

British singer/songwriter/musician Corinne Bailey Rae shot to stardom with her self-titled #1 U.K. debut album in 2006, featuring the global hits ‘Put Your Records On’ and ‘Like A Star’. Over the course of her career she has released three critically acclaimed studio albums—Corinne Bailey Rae, The Sea and The Heart Speaks in Whispers—and earned two Grammy Awards, two MOBOS, and been nominated for multiple awards including the BRIT Awards, Mercury Music Prize and BET Awards. Her work for film and television includes the theme to Stan Lee’s Lucky Man (SKY1), ‘The Scientist’ for Universal Pictures’ Fifty Shades Darker opening title and soundtrack which charted globally, and in 2020 her song ‘New to Me’ was performed in the film The High Note by Tracee Ellis Ross. Bailey Rae has collaborated with a wide range of artists including Mary J. Blige, Al Green, Herbie Hancock, KING, Paul McCartney, Kele Okereke (Bloc Party), Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Questlove, Salaam Rami, RZA, Tyler The Creator, Paul Weller, Richard Hawley, Stevie Wonder, Tracey Thorn, Pharrell, Logic, Mick Jenkins, Miles Kane and many more.