Lady Blackbird
In every Lady Blackbird song is the unmistakable sound of freedom.
Harnessing a mighty voice that effortlessly embodies buffeting power, heart-rending yearning and soft, whispered balladry, Lady Blackbird has imbued her compositions since 2021’s critically acclaimed debut Black Acid Soul with
a journeying independence. Hers is an instantly-recognisable sound capable of evoking joy one moment and heartache the next, a musical embrace of genres as varied as jazz, classic soul, gospel, psychedelic rock and pop. It is
the hallmark of a visionary voice, on an Album that has landed on several ‘2024 Best Albums of the Year’ charts.
Yet, it is only now that she is embracing the full breadth of that musical freedom in her most personal and ambitious work to date: Slang Spirituals. “This is my journey of becoming,” she explains. “It’s me rewriting the book to
show the world who I truly am. From being labelled a sinner to finding my
acceptance.”
Across 11 tracks Lady Blackbird puts her sweeping, cinematic vocal power to use on everything from the soulful orchestral fanfares of “Let Not (Your Heart Be Troubled)” to the finger-picking folk storytelling of “Man On A Boat”,
euphoric gospel empowerment of “Like A Woman” and the seven-minute psychedelic soul instrumental of “When The Game Is Played On You.” Collaborating once again with Black Acid Soul producer Chris Seefried, the pair produce a second album Slang Spirituals that not only embodies the freewheeling, emotive Lady Blackbird sound but that also taps into deeply vulnerable lyrics that recount the singer’s challenging ascent to musical
stardom.
Growing up in the small town of Farmington, New Mexico, Lady Blackbird was raised in a religious Christian household and began singing as soon as she could walk. By 12, she was signed to a Christian record label based in Nashville and began working with rap-rock crossover group DC Talk. While she featured on several solo records from DC Talk co-founder TobyMac, Lady Blackbird’s time at the Christian record label was short-lived. “Once I entered my teenage years, I started to realize that religion was something that was put on me and it never felt right,” she says. “As I also began to develop my own identity as a queer woman, I felt judged as an outcast and labelled as a sinner. It was burying who I really was and I needed to find a way out.”
“I had to dig my way out of a grave to be able to finally breathe and sing about who I really am,” she says. “This is me, full of freedom, acceptance and without hypocrisy. It’s also something I think a lot of people can relate to – that human quest to find yourself and take back your power, to get to the place of radiating who you are without apology.” Hence the record’s apt title, evoking the power of the human spirit to define and fight for itself rather than relying on belief in another. In taking charge of her own life and her own sound, Lady Blackbird walks a new path, making each note on Slang
Spirituals a step in a radically different direction.
“It might sound like a heavy record but it’s one full of musical joy,” she adds. “We’re putting this journey of becoming to a soundtrack that is louder, fuller and more expressive than what I’ve done before. It’s neo-gospel, avant soul,
acid rock and everything in between.” Lady Blackbird will be taking her infectiously uninhibited sound on tour throughout the next year, kicking off in May (to coincide with the release of the first single “Reborn”) with an upcoming performance as part of Chaka Khan’s Meltdown Festival at London’s Southbank Centre. Lady Blackbird is sure to have her revellers enraptured and empowered in equal parts. “The stage is like home and every time I step out there, I see my whole life flash by,” she says. “I see my dream come true from my bedroom to County Fair stages and now to these beautiful rooms – I can’t wait to take audiences on the journey with me and make them feel liberated too.”
