Dawn Richard's move to Merge Records for
Second Line provided an instant boost to her profile. From an artistic standpoint, it's transparent. Utilizing the higher platform to simply advance her modern synthesis of pop and dance music styles that have sprung from rhythm & blues, the dynamo also continues to derive concepts from her duplexity as a cultural anthropologist and futurist. There aren't any syncopated grooves in the manner of traditional second-line drumming native to
Richard's beloved New Orleans, but the album is a representation of the protagonist's leading of a procession to observe the death of all creative restrictions imposed by the music industry. Subtitled "An Electro Revival,"
Second Line is more an extension of related forms that preceded and followed early-'80s electro, from soul and funk to house, bounce, and footwork. Inspired still by the totality of her lineage,
Richard starts the album by introducing and personifying cover star King Creole, a commanding figure who projects stealth omnipotence with deep-voiced declarations like "Too ahead of you bitches, take 'em years to catch me." Threaded from start to finish are segments of
Richard's mother answering her daughter's questions about second lines, upbringing, and romance. The last subject prompts a mention of
Richard's father, whose piano guides a following interlude in which the singer breaks free from a disastrous relationship. Elsewhere, desire, longing, and heartache tend to commingle with the greater amount of material that fizzes with resolve, pride, and eminence. Although there are fewer flat-out astonishing moments here than on the earlier LPs, numerous cuts elicit blues-shedding movement and seem unfadeable. "Nostalgia," "Boomerang," and "Bussifame" make for a torrid early sequence of strutting, stomping, neck-swinging delight, and toward the end, there's the rippling ballad-turned-drum'n'bass belter "Perfect Storm," where the hero takes a step back to beam, "We went from homeless to limitless, y'all." Remarkably,
Richard again switches up her collaborators without losing a step, this time working primarily beside the previously obscure Ila Orbis with
Sam O.B. (aka
Obey City), Joe Beats, and
J Rick each on one track. ~ Andy Kellman