Dawn Richard Brings Her Own New Orleans Story to creole culture
Her new album completes a family-centered trilogy with Louisiana Creole language, a live ensemble and guests including Big Freedia, Tank Ball and her father.
Dawn Richard’s creole culture arrives today, October 9, on Merge Records. The album completes her New Orleans trilogy with a story told from her own perspective, bringing family, local collaborators and Louisiana Creole language into an 11-song release.
The project follows New Breed in 2019 and Second Line in 2021. Although it is Richard’s first solo album in five years, she has remained active between those releases: collaborations with Spencer Zahn produced Pigments in 2022 and Quiet in a World Full of Noise in 2024. This return to her solo catalog gives her hometown another central role.
Dawn Richard — “only fans.” Official music video released October 9, 2026.
Her own place in the family story
In a September interview with YAMS, Richard explained that New Breed had approached New Orleans through her father’s eyes, while Second Line reflected her mother’s perspective. She had thought the story was finished before realizing her own account was missing. That distinction gives creole culture its purpose: a daughter carrying the family conversation forward, with the freedom to change its shape.
The details extend beyond a family narrative. YAMS reports that Richard incorporates Kouri-Vini, the Louisiana Creole language, in the album’s interludes. The credits for “enough” name Clif St. Laurent and Christophe Landry for its Creole interlude. They also identify a sample of Sister Nancy’s “Bam Bam,” placing a specific Caribbean recording alongside the language and musicians contributing to Richard’s portrait of home.
The people inside the record
The album credits name Richard and Katalyst Collective as executive producers, with Eric Heigle mixing, Alex Komlos handling vocal mixing and Roye Robley mastering. The personnel make the collaboration tangible. On “chuuuuurch,” Greg Paul plays drums, Brandon Cordoba supplies keys, synths and organ, and Marlon Spears plays bass. David Otis’s saxophone, Jonah Levine’s trombone, Ahmad Dubose-Dawson’s percussion and a four-person choir fill out the credited ensemble.
Dawn Richard — “chuuuuurch” featuring Jelly Joseph. Official music video.
The tracklist brings several distinct voices into that setting. Big Freedia appears on the opening “a creole culture intro”; Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph joins “chuuuuurch”; Tarriona “Tank” Ball features on “l v r”; and Durand Bernarr appears on “baby, can we?” Richard’s father, Frank Richard of Chocolate Milk, is credited on “groove city.”
That last connection reaches into the family’s recorded history. In his release-day Pitchfork review, Stephen Kearse describes “groove city” as a reworking of Chocolate Milk’s 1979 song, co-written by Richard’s father. Kearse notes the new version’s jungle breaks, an example of how an inherited recording can become material for a younger artist’s present-day choices.
Where to begin
The singles offer straightforward entry points. “enough” arrived on August 5, while “baby, can we?”, written by Richard and Bernarr, dates to June 16. The official “chuuuuurch” video adds a visual companion: Zebretta Johnson directed it, with animation credited to Richard. Its published credits also name Richard, Heigle and Michael De’Jour Thomas as the song’s producers.
Dawn Richard — “baby, can we?” featuring Durand Bernarr. Official music video.
For more context, Richard’s release-day Ladies First conversation with Radio Milwaukee returns to the trilogy’s shifting family perspectives and her search for joy through difficult moments. That conversation offers a useful companion to the album’s larger question of how an artist tells her own story while remaining connected to the people who shaped it.
The complete album runs about 43 minutes. Listen on Spotify or Apple Music, with purchase options through Bandcamp and Merge. Start at the opening track and follow the credited voices through the sequence. They provide a concrete way into the release’s central idea: New Orleans as a culture Richard continues to participate in and help create.
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