Raehann Bryce-Davis moves into a new sonic sphere with her groovy single and video I Praise The Dance — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
The first single from the internationally acclaimed opera singer and producer’s tellingly titled album Evolution, I Praise The Dance finds Bryce-Davis boldly and joyfully changing her tune. Pulling a hard 180° from the classical world, the beloved mezzo-soprano struts her stuff into the vibrantly coloured, energized world of EDM.
I Praise The Dance was composed by Rene Orth, whose 2023 opera 10 Days In A Madhouse was a high point of her past year. On the heels of the successful premiere, she asked Orth to use the electronics she utilized in her opera to create something more modern and immediate. Orth’s joyful dance anthem, with layers of ad libs by Bryce-Davis, has production by hip hop/rap artist Ocean Kelly, whose music has been featured on HBO’s We’re Here, as well as RuPaul’s Drag Race.
The video for I Praise The Dance was executive produced, directed, cast, and penned by Bryce-Davis. In her directorial debut, the clip highlights the journey of a person (Cristina Pitter) through a maze of depression, represented by contemporary dancer Zachary Downer, until the Spirit Of The Dance (RBD herself) encourages her to find joy, represented by contemporary dancer, Rachel Harris. Adam Weinberg served as director of photography, while the story was made in conjunction with L.A. filmmaker Andrew Mangialino, who brought it all to life through whimsical and colourful editing.
Hailed as one of the finest mezzo-sopranos of this generation and renowned for her fearlessness, Bryce-Davis says the self-produced, genre-jumping Evolution (due Aug. 9) delineates her own growth as an artist. Testing the limits of how the operatic voice can adapt to different climates, the album marries her vocals to Afrobeats, pop, Latin, musical theatre, dancehall and more. In a time when opera companies face extinction, the album explores how evolution can create a thriving, opera-sized species for a new age.
Evolution is sponsored by the Living Heritage Foundation and primarily funded through crowdsourcing. Bryce-Davis calls the album an autobiography, both musically and thematically, connecting her operatic voice with a diverse cast of collaborators and genres. Upcoming singles will include The Beauty In My Blackness, a self-love anthem by Maria Thompson Corley with a video by Suede Lacy, and Unspoken, composed by Jake Landau with poetry by Leslie Andrea Williams, based on conversations with Bryce-Davis’s father Errol. The album features contributions from OB tha Producer, Karl Wine, EJ Galvez, D.A.Jay, B.E. Boykin, Peter Ashbourne, Jacqueline Hairston, Jeanne-Minette Cilliers, Ivalas String Quartet, Thapelo Masita, Reuben Kebede and Christian X.M. McGhee.
Evolution comes on the heels of a successful season in which Bryce-Davis debuted at Santa Fe Opera in Rusalka, directed by Sir David Pountney and conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya; and at Opera Philadelphia in 10 Days In A Madhouse by Orth and Hannah Moscovitch. She also performed at the Metropolitan Opera in X: The Life and Times of Malcom X in a new production by Robert O’Hara, at Dutch National Opera for Il Trittico, a new Barrie Kosky production conducted by Lorenzo Viotti, and at Bayerische Staatsoper in Verdi’s Aida with Marco Armiliato conducting.
In concert engagements, she made her Australian debut singing Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jaime Martín, and performed Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Luxembourg Philharmonie.
Watch the video for I Praise The Dance above, listen to more from Raehann Bryce-Davis below, and get in step on her website, Instragram, Facebook and Twitter.
