Corinne Bailey Rae Releases Brand New Single 'SilverCane'

Corinne Bailey Rae has released her brand new single ‘SilverCane’, the first taste of new music following the release of her critically acclaimed album Black Rainbows which is shortlisted for the Mercury Prize this week.

‘SilverCane’ is a warped, minimal electro track with progressive, funk beats under Corinne’s captivating yet eerie lyrical delivery, “Sometimes we march in this parade / Sometimes we take our aeroplane”, highlighting the affluent black families of 20th century Greenwood, Oklahoma who couldn’t escape the persecution of white supremacists.

 
Corinne Bailey Rae comments: “Known as ‘Black Wall Street’, Greenwood was a wealthy district of an oil town at the turn of the 20th century, with 600 black businesses, including hotels, a bus company, restaurants, 21 churches, a hospital and post office. Several prominent families owned private planes. 
 
The destruction of Greenwood came in 1921 with a well-documented enactment of white supremacist violence, the first incidence of domestic firebombing in US history. But this song celebrates Greenwood before that; the families, the freedom, the confidence, the feeling of having created a place away from hatred and fear. There is an ominous feeling in the background as we, the listener, know what is coming.
 
‘SilverCane’ is part of my Black Rainbows project. I’m thrilled to be celebrating the success of Black Rainbows as it shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, Album of The Year 2024.”Corinne Bailey Rae’s Mercury Prize shortlisted fourth album Black Rainbows has been hailed around the world as her career-best work and critics have embraced the eclectic, genre-bending album as indisputably one of the finest albums of the past twelve months.

It was inspired by Corinne’s visits to the Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago, where US artist Theaster Gates has curated a wide-ranging collection of complex and enlightening artefacts from Black history. The album, and its accompanying book Refraction/Reflection of the Arts Bank photographed by Koto Bolofo, have shone a light on much of this history and seen Corinne Bailey Rae step into a new cultural space which has also been reflected in her immersive live performances witnessed across the world this year.

Corinne Bailey Rae has just completed a string of dates in China and will be performing at the Slow Life Slow Live Festival in Seoul, South Korea on October 13th and the JazzNoJazz Festival in Zurich, Switzerland on November 1st. 

Photo credit: Koto Bolofo