Corinne Bailey Rae Drops New Single Peach Velvet Sky
Wednesday, 16 August 2023
Written by Jon Stickler
Photo: Koto Bolofo
Corinne Bailey Rae has shared a new song, Peach Velvet Sky.
It comes with a Gregory Berg-directed video and will appear on her new album, 'Black Rainbows', due out on September 15 via Thirty Tigers.
Inspired by the story of Harriet Jacobs told through her autobiography Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl, the stripped back piano-led ballad puts the Grammy Award-winner's vocals centre stage, offering a striking change in style to the riotous punk-inspired first single, New York Transit Queen. Bailey Rae said:
"Peach Velvet Sky is about the fragments of sunset Harriet Jacobs saw, through the tiny loophole she made, and its ultimate width and wonder when she finally found freedom."
"Reading in The Johnson Publishing Library reignited my interest in the life of Harriet Jacobs," she added. "I had read her autobiography, Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl, as a teen. An aunt from America had sent me a copy of Six African American Narratives, and I went straight to Incidents, as it was the only one written by a woman.
"Re-reading the work as an adult and a mother, I was even more profoundly affected by Harriet Jacob's mental fortitude and courage, as well as being shocked anew by the injustices and cruelties of her situation."
Discussing the song's video, Bailey Rae continued: "I first saw Mayowa [Ogunnaike - dancer] in the rehearsals for Seeds, Dreams, Constellations, the Contemporary Dance piece I co-created with Sharon Watson MBE, in Leeds, spring 2023. Sharon and Mayowa had begun developing the choreography for Peach Velvet Sky and called me in to see what was happening.
"I was speechless when I saw Mayowa dance. The grace, the expression, the heaviness of the subject with the fluidity of the movement. Sharon and Mayowa had put in language which evoked Harriet Jacob's story so poetically, her loophole for viewing the world, the compression which ultimately brought her escape, the mental strain, the physical and temporal endurance. When I saw Mayowa dance that piece I knew that we had to film her to bring this story to people."
The singer-songwriter's first release of new material in seven years will be accompanied by a US tour in early September, followed by three shows at London's Ladbroke Hall in October, plus dates in Spain.
Corinne Bailey Rae Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows
Tue September 05 2023 - STONY BROOK New York - Recital Hall at Staller Center For the Arts (USA)
Wed September 06 2023 - WASHINGTON District of Columbia - Lincoln Theatre DC (USA)
Fri September 08 2023 - PHILADELPHIA Pennsylvania - Theatre Of Living Arts (USA)
Sat September 09 2023 - NEW HAVEN Connecticut - Schwarzman Center at Yale University (USA)
Sun September 10 2023 - NEW YORK New York - National Jazz Museum in Harlem (USA)
Tue September 12 2023 - CINCINNATI Ohio - Anderson Theater At Cincinnati Memorial Hall (USA)
Thu September 14 2023 - CHICAGO Illinois - Rockefeller Chapel at University of Chicago (USA)
Sun September 17 2023 - NASHVILLE Tennessee - CMA Theater at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (USA)
Tue September 19 2023 - CHARLESTON South Carolina - Charleston Music Hall (USA)
Wed September 20 2023 - DURHAM North Carolina - Fletcher Hall at Carolina Theatre Durham - Complex (USA)
Fri September 22 2023 - SUGAR HILL Georgia - Eagle Theater at Sugar Hill (USA)
Sun September 24 2023 - BIRMINGHAM AL Alabama - Jemison Concert Hall at Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center - Complex (USA)
Tue September 26 2023 - NEW ORLEANS Louisiana - Orpheum Theater (USA)
Fri September 29 2023 - AUSTIN Texas - Paramount Theatre Austin (USA)
Sun October 01 2023 - STAFFORD Texas - Stafford Centre (USA)
Tue October 03 2023 - DALLAS Texas - Texas Theatre (USA)
Thu October 05 2023 - SANTA FE New Mexico - Lensic Performing Arts Center (USA)
Sat October 07 2023 - MARFA Texas - Saint George Hall (USA)
Wed October 25 2023 - LONDON Ladbroke Hall
Thu October 26 2023 - LONDON Ladbroke Hall
Sat October 28 2023 - LONDON Ladbroke Hall
Tue October 31 2023 - MADRID Teatro Pavón (Spain)
Wed November 01 2023 - BARCELONA Studio P62 (Spain)
Fri November 03 2023 - SEVILLE Cartuja Centre (Spain)
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