- 2023-08-23
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MUSIC
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Corinne Bailey Rae Releases New Song “Peach Velvet Sky”
British singer-songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae released a new song “Peach Velvet Sky” along with a music video on August 15, 2023.
The song is the second single off of her upcoming fourth studio album “Black Rainbows”, which is set to be released on September 15, 2023.
The new album is her first LP of new material in seven years.
The track is inspired by Harriet Jacobs' self-written autobiography “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” published in 1861. The book documents Jacobs's life as a slave and how she gained freedom for herself and for her children.
The track was written and produced by Corinne Bailey Rae and S.J. Brown.
Corinne Bailey Rae said of the song, “'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."- She continued, "Reading in The Johnson Publishing Library reignited my interest in the life of Harriet Jacobs. 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.”
She added, “Jacobs, born in 1813, escaped slavery in her early twenties. She feigned her flight North, knowing her obsessive, sexually harassing, and violent 'master' would not relent until he had searched the Free States for her. Instead, she hid in the crawl space above her free Grandmother's storeroom, where she remained, with the help of her grandmother, for 7 years. Jacob bored a small hole through the wall of the cabin, through which she could occasionally see her children as they played nearby. She could sew clothes for them by this light, as well as overhear conversations that pertained to her safety.” -
The accompanying music video was directed by Gregory Berg. The clip stars British-Nigerian dancer and choreographer Mayowa Ogunnaike.
Corinne Bailey Rae said, “I first saw Mayowa 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.”
Photo by Koto Bolofo - source : Apple Music
