New Orleans dynamo Dawn Richard and multi-instrumentalist, producer, and composer Spencer Zahn announce Pigments, their debut collaborative album, out October 21 on Merge Records. Today, the pair presents the first movement: “Coral,” “Sandstone,” “Indigo,” and “Vantablack,” which is accompanied by an official video and marks Richard’s directorial debut. Pigments tells the story of finding one’s self through dance, self-expression, and community through the lens of New Orleans’ contemporary arts scene. Not strictly classical, jazz or ambient electronica but rather a body of “movements,” Pigments is one long composition guided by Richard’s stripped-down vocals. Following her acclaimed Merge debut, Second Line, Pigments reveals a new facet of Richard’s limitless talents and provides a fresh introduction to Zahn, whose intimate, sprawling soundscapes play with principles of open space and motion. It marks Richard’s first step into the contemporary classical world.

Pigments flutters open with “Coral,” whose title indicates a solid thorniness. Richard’s voice enters on the second track, “Sandstone,” which swells into hopeful fervor as she sings of wanting “to be ‘more than’” and claims her dreams as if they’re reality. The rest of the first movement snakes through “Indigo” and the hypnotic “Vantablack,” whose lyrics about “losing myself in you” are about learning to love your skin as a Black woman. The “Vantablack” video features a dance student from the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA).

Pre-order Pigments in the Merge store on opaque baby blue Peak Vinyl and CD today.

After first collaborating on Zahn’s 2018 debut album People of the Dawn, Richard and Zahn wanted to explore a project that would depart from the celebratory R&B and dance music Richard is known for, while keeping in line with her love for the experimental and avant-garde. The story that emerged from the new songs was of “someone painting with broken brushes,” Richard explains. “I felt like the tools that I and other people like me were dealt weren’t shiny. Yet we still painted these beautiful pictures. This album is what it means to be a dreamer and finally reach a place where you’ve decided to love the pigments that you have.”

As Richard’s lyrics outline this emotional journey, the rest of the narrative is told by the instruments that ebb and flow around her tender introspections. Though each instrument has its own theme, they modulate to the key Dawn is singing in and “provide a new tonal center,” states Zahn. His approach to composition is informed by classic ECM productions and the solo work of Talk Talk’s Mark Hollis, but morphs to incorporate the energy of his collaborators. While recording the album, Zahn focused on capturing the sound of the room and the breath of the players to foster a feeling of spaciousness, as well as acknowledge all the beings who contributed to Pigments. The musicians throughout include Stuart Bogie (clarinets), Mike Haldeman (guitars, sampled electronic instruments), Malcolm Parson (cello, violin, viola), DaveScalia (drums), Kirk Schoenherr (electric guitar), Jas Walton (tenor saxophone, flute), and Doug Wieselman (clarinets). For Richard, the project is a tribute to her father Frank Richard, lead singer of the funk band Chocolate Milk, who received his master’s degree in classical music theory. 

Through telling a personal story of resilience and self-actualization, Richard and Zahn create a site of healing and new possibilities for not only themselves, but also the musicians who played on the record and the listeners at home. Pigments is a deeply empathetic and compassionate project that opens itself up to both individual reflection and communal connection. “The point is that we’re going through the same thing in different ways,” Richard reflects. “No matter what walks of life we come from, the story can be similar.”