“The ever-evolving Dawn Richard” (New York Times)—the New Orleans-based musician, multimedia artist, animator, dancer, director, and entrepreneur—returns with her new single/visualizer, “A FLEX." True to its title, “A FLEX” finds Dawn at the peak of her powers, returning to pop music for the first time since her 2023 EP, The Architect, with an alluring cut of R&B beamed in from the genre’s future. Watch the visualizer below, and listen to “A FLEX” wherever you stream music!

“A FLEX” is the first taste of Dawn’s next chapter and a confident return to the futurism and brass-soaked swagger of her King Creole era. After exploring new lanes within her genre-bending projects with Spencer Zahn, including last year’s Quiet in a World Full of Noise, “A FLEX” sees Dawn stepping back into the lineage of 2021’s Second Line with a sound that is bold and undeniably her. “The track is the kind of confidence that only I can give in my records,” she explains. “Dipped in legacy, the kind of flex that comes from survival, culture, and craft. It signals a new album on the way, one that continues my mission of building worlds through sound, movement, and memory.”

“A FLEX” is a stripped-down, one-room freestyle dance visual that reintroduces the raw spirit of “King Creole” through pure movement. Directed by Dawn and Zildjian and shot in a single space with nothing but energy, sweat, and presence, the visualizer captures Dawn in her most instinctive form — no choreography, no artifice, just one room and one flex. As the camera holds close, Dawn’s body becomes the instrument: sharp lines, fluid transitions, and Creole-rooted rhythm creating a visual language of its own. The piece serves as a bridge between eras, pulling forward the bold, unfiltered attitude of the King Creole world while teasing the sonic and visual direction of the new project.

Dawn Richard, on “A FLEX”:

“A FLEX” is not just a dance moment — it’s a statement.

A reminder.

A reawakening.

The floor is bare. The mood is intimate.

And the flex is unmistakably Dawn.

With news of a full-length follow-up to Second Line on the horizon, Dawn will play a hometown show in New Orleans, Louisiana at Tipitina’s next Friday, December 12th. Tickets are on sale now and available here.

Dawn Richard on tour:
Dec 12 New Orleans, LA – Tipitina's