{"product_id":"quiet-in-a-world-full-of-noise","title":"Quiet in a World Full of Noise","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDawn Richard\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eSpencer Zahn\u003c\/strong\u003e share a common collaborative ethos, a genuine sense of musical curiosity, and a cosmopolitan eagerness to escape the conventions of genre. That shared vision first brought them together on 2022’s \u003cem\u003ePigments\u003c\/em\u003e — icy and warm, stripped-down and grand, familiar and otherworldly, and now it has reunited them for \u003cem\u003eQuiet in a World Full of Noise\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBy turns intimate, soul-baring, spectral, and startling, \u003cem\u003eQuiet in a World Full of Noise\u003c\/em\u003e blends atmospheric and orchestral soundscapes with mellifluous soul, jazz, and journalistic vocalizing, driving it all home with stark, confessional lyricism. The new album finds \u003cstrong\u003eRichard\u003c\/strong\u003e at her most raw and exposed. This year, \u003cstrong\u003eRichard\u003c\/strong\u003e’s musician father experienced mini strokes while being diagnosed with cancer; and last year, her cousin Cisco was fatally shot seven times in New Orleans. \u003cstrong\u003eRichard\u003c\/strong\u003e channels the emotional impact of these traumatic experiences of loss into her lyrics and vocal performances, which are left bare and human here, raw and unprocessed across the album.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eQuiet\u003c\/em\u003e expands the definitions of what constitutes progressive, avant-garde R\u0026amp;B by rewriting them altogether. On paper, \u003cstrong\u003eRichard\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eZahn\u003c\/strong\u003e’s audacious, impressionistic musical collaborations feel like a surprising match. \u003cstrong\u003eRichard\u003c\/strong\u003e, a New Orleans–reared visionary, has had an improbable journey from late 2000s reality television and mainstream pop with girl group Danity Kane to become one of the most prolific, experimental, and visible indie R\u0026amp;B singer-songwriters of the last decade and a half, with seven solo albums under her belt. \u003cstrong\u003eZahn\u003c\/strong\u003e is an East Coast–raised multi-instrumentalist and composer working at the intersections of jazz, Americana, classical, and ambient pop. His growing solo discography includes \u003cem\u003ePeople of the Dawn\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eSunday Painter\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003ePale Horizon\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eStatues I and II\u003c\/em\u003e, as well as the duo’s first release, \u003cem\u003ePigments\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003ePigments\u003c\/em\u003e was one of the best projects I’ve ever made,” \u003cstrong\u003eRichard\u003c\/strong\u003e says, “and the furthest I’ve ever been pushed as an artist.” The album was a critical hit, hailed as Best New Music by Pitchfork and receiving praise from Stereogum as Album of the Week, NPR Music, Bandcamp Daily, The Fader, Bitter Southerner, and Edition, among many other publications.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe making of its follow-up, \u003cem\u003eQuiet in a World Full of Noise\u003c\/em\u003e, began in 2023 in upstate New York. Fresh from a break-up, \u003cstrong\u003eZahn\u003c\/strong\u003e sat at his piano and poured himself into writing and recording instrumental compositions. “I wrote all these stream-of-consciousness pieces on piano, and they were eerie, spacious piano tracks,” he said. He used a piano that had been unconventionally tuned to the room rather than to standard pitch. These oddly-tuned, eerie instrumental recordings were never intended to be an album.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSix months later, he listened to the recordings again and sent them to \u003cstrong\u003eRichard\u003c\/strong\u003e who immediately recognized their potential and said, “Oh, this is the next album.” \u003cstrong\u003eRichard\u003c\/strong\u003e went into the studio the next day and wrote and recorded melodies and lyrics to \u003cstrong\u003eZahn\u003c\/strong\u003e’s piano recordings. \u003cstrong\u003eZahn\u003c\/strong\u003e brought in gifted musicians like Bryan Senti on strings (violin, viola, and violoncello da spalla) and CJ Camerieri on brass (French horn, flugelhorn, and trumpet). In some cases, like on the track “Life in Numbers,” \u003cstrong\u003eZahn\u003c\/strong\u003e used only the original first-take piano recording and scratch vocal, resulting in an intimate close-up of both \u003cstrong\u003eRichard\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eZahn\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Merge Records","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50441956720971,"sku":"2209547","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50441955672395,"sku":"2209546","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Dawn_Richard_and_Spencer_Zahn_-_Quiet_in_a_World_Full_o_9f0d7e8b_thumbnail_4.jpg?v=1726989336","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/products\/quiet-in-a-world-full-of-noise","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}