Corinne Bailey Rae Shows Us “Black Rainbows”
Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae releases her highly anticipated new album, Black Rainbows, via Thirty Tigers.
In conjunction with the album’s release, a book, REFLECTIONS/REFRACTIONS AT THE STONY ISLAND ARTS BANK photographed by Koto Bolofo, is also out now. . 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. Inspired by her transcendent experience at the Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago, the project marks a new direction for the artist. She notes, “I knew when I walked through those doors that my life had changed forever. ”Singles “New York Transit Queen” and “Peach Velvet Sky” were released to critical acclaim in advance of the album. On the juxtaposition of the tracks, Corinne Bailey Rae explains “The giddy girl group fizz enlivening ‘New York City Transit Queen’—all handclaps and joyous gang vocals—contrasts with the spare piano balladry of ‘Peach Velvet Sky.’” In celebration of the new project, Bailey Rae is touring select U.S. cities this fall, including Yale University’s Schwarzman Center, New York’s National Jazz Museum in Harlem, University of Chicago’s Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, Nashville’s CMA Theater, New Orleans’ Orpheum Theater and more. Bailey Rae will also make an appearance at the 35th Annual Chinati Weekend in Marfa, TX. See below for the full U.S. and international tour routing.
photo credit: Koto Bolofo