Candice Hoyes Releases “Expecting”
Today, award-winning interdisciplinary musician and vocalist Candice Hoyes releases the second single and title track to her forthcoming debut solo album Expecting, out August 28 via LaReserve Records. “Expecting”, a cover song from the iconic soul singer-songwriter Minnie Riperton’s Come To My Garden, composed by the late musical luminary Charles Stepney and featuring Makaya McCraven and Junius Paul with performances by Brandee Younger and Sullivan Fortner, builds an ethereal sonic landscape. A glissando introduction gives way to a lush orchestral arrangement and jazz-infused textures that move seamlessly alongside Hoyes’ voice. The instrumentation and vocals feel inseparable, creating a dreamlike atmosphere that carries listeners through a world of reflection and possibility. As the song unfolds, Hoyes’ signature soprano soars effortlessly, revealing emotional depth and affirming her undeniable artistry as she explores themes of growth and self-discovery. Blue roses, drifting leaves, and golden-hour light set the stage for the single’s accompanying music video directed by Emmy-winner Simone Holland — an ethereal outdoor reverie and gracefully choreographed homage to the lush, transcendent world of Minnie Riperton’s Come To My Garden. While honoring Riperton, Hoyes’ rendition introduces a renewed sense of intimacy.
Hoyes shares about the single, “There’s a lot of power in coming to works that we admire that no one has covered. It’s a huge part of keeping the history, the awareness of the music, and the connection to the music alive — to come into songs and inhabit them and use all of your musical powers to make it your own and interpret it in your individual way. That process is very sacred. It’s archival and it’s spiritual. It presses on your power of imagination.”
Arriving on Juneteenth, “Expecting” carries a deeper cultural resonance that goes beyond its sonic realm. The release is within a celebration of black history, creativity, and artistic continuity, reflecting Candice’s deep commitment to engaging with the archives and histories that have shaped her artistic identity. For Hoyes, Black music traditions are as much references as they are living spaces and embodiment. As the title track to her forthcoming debut album, “Expecting” represents the central message of the project. The single is rooted in a commitment to honoring legacy while creating new space within it. Through her interpretation, she shapes a performance that is reflective and deeply attentive to the lineage it comes from.
Beyond her own music, Hoyes is a singular presence across the arts. On June 22nd, Candice will make her Delacorte Theater debut as she joins the new production by Amy Sherald and Anna Deavere Smith’s PUBLIC FORUM AMERICAN SUBLIME: STORIES FROM ELSEWHERE IN III ACTS. In May, she brought her celebrated Duke Ellington interpretations to Paris’s Fondation des États-Unis, performing alongside pianist Jas Ogiste in a program honoring Ellington’s legacy. In February, she premiered MASKS: The Prophecy of the Ancestors—composed by Jeremy Pelt for soprano, synthesizer, and jazz quintet—at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Appel Room. This summer, Hoyes will host a Black feminist jazz and zine-making workshop at We Out Here Festival’s Wellbeing tent. A member of the Harlem Chamber Players and recently named Georgetown University Gender Justice Institute Researcher in Residence, she is also recognized in Carnegie Hall’s Timeline of African-American Music for scholarship that, in their words, “represents a noticeable departure from the usual practice of isolating creativity and critical analysis.” Her collaborations include Moor Mother, Chaka Khan, and more. As a multidisciplinary force, she has modeled for and contributed an audio guide to Amy Sherald’s current exhibition American Sublime, scored two of Allison Janae Hamilton‘s films (Celestine: Florida Storm and Venus of Ossabaw), and created vocal installations for Camille Norment‘s commission at the Studio Museum of Harlem. She was presented by Rashid Johnson in his 2025–26 exhibition A Poem for Deep Thinkers and returns to the Guggenheim in 2026–27.
With Expecting, Candice Hoyes arrives fully on her own terms — channeling a career spent at the intersection of music, art, and culture into something deeply and unmistakably hers. She is an artist not just to watch, but to listen to closely.
Photo by Courtney Yates