''Redemption'' (''Redemptionheart'' on physical editions) is the fourth
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
by American singer
Dawn Richard, which was released on November 18, 2016, by Local Action / Our Dawn Entertainment.
''Redemption'' serves as the final chapter in a trilogy, following 2013's ''
Goldenheart'' and 2015's ''
Blackheart
Blackheart is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as an adversary to the superhero Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch), Ghost Rider. Created by writer Ann Nocenti and artist ...
''. The album features contributions from Noisecastle III as well as New Orleans natives
Trombone Shorty
Troy Andrews (born January 2, 1986), also known by the stage name Trombone Shorty, is a musician, most notably a trombone player, from New Orleans, Louisiana. His music fuses rock, pop, jazz, funk, and hip hop.
Biography
Andrews was one of s ...
and
PJ Morton
P.J. Morton (born Paul Sylvester Morton Jr.; March 29, 1981) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Since 2012, he has been the keyboardist for the pop band Maroon 5. Morton originally joined the band as a touring mem ...
.
Background
''REDEMPTION'' is the final installment in a planned trilogy of albums by Richard, referred to as The Heart Trilogy, about love, loss, and redemption. The album is preceded by 2013's ''Goldenheart'' and 2015's ''Blackheart''.
Richard describes the album as a "self-realization" album that is for all people. She says, "The Red Era is for everybody. Every gay, every fluid, every black, every white. Because my fan base has been through a lot of shit."
None of the previously released singles "Dance", "Not Above That", "Wake Up" and "Cali Sun" can be found on the final track-listing.
Promotion
On March 12, 2016 D∆WN started her REDEMPTION Live show tour. In that same year, she was also chosen to perform the first ever YouTube live 360 performance.
Critical reception
Upon its release, ''Redemption'' received widespread acclaim from critics. Tara Joshi of ''
The Quietus
''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics.
Content
''The Quietu ...
'' stated, "It's orchestral, it's odd, it's experimental, it's ornate, it makes you want to dance, it makes you want to swoon - at its heart Redemption is reflective of so many touchstones of black music from the past 30 years or so. It feels odd to say what Richard is doing is still perhaps too niche to get her a place in the R&B 'Hot 100', given her sound is so broad and all-encompassing, but its true. Richard has carved out an ambitiously futuristic place for herself that the mainstream hasn't quite caught up with yet."
Accolades
Track listing
Release history
References
External links
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{{Authority control
2016 albums
2010s concept albums
Dawn Richard albums