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Singer/songwriter Jesca Hoop will soon follow her acclaimed 2017 album Memories Are Now with her sixth LP, Stonechild, out July 5 on Memphis Industries. The next single from the album, “Red White and Black,” is out today and metaphorically recounts an ugly side of history. It arrives with an accompanying video, which you can watch below.
On “Red White and Black,” Hoop channels Kate Bush with vast, layered vocals as she sings in an eerie replay, “Take him by the hand to the river / lead him by the hand into the water.” The video, which also stars stuntwoman Alyma Dorsey, finds Hoop playing witness to ongoing combat between masked fighters. Rather than immediately engage in the action, Hoop picks up a guitar—only later does she wield it as an actual weapon. The song itself remembers a battle of another kind, as Hoop explains:
“Red White and Black” is a poem, like a snapshot, set in post civil war USA when slavery was “abolished” and swiftly rebranded by the prison system. It’s a personal acknowledgement and willingness to join the conversation for change.
Originally a Los Angeles native, Hoop now lives in the U.K. and recorded Stonechild in Bristol with producer John Parish, who’s worked with artists like PJ Harvey and This is the Kit. Kate Stables and Rozi Plain of the latter band appear on Stonechild, as do Lucius, who offer backup vocals on album track “Shoulder Charge.”
Again, you can listen to Hoop’s “Red White and Black” below, followed by her 2012 Daytrotter Session further down. Keep scrolling for the Stonechild album art and tracklist—you can preorder it right here.
Read: Jesca Hoop Has Learned to Live in the Moment (2017)
Stonechild Album Art:
Stonechild Tracklist:
01. Free Of The Feeling
02. Shoulder Charge
03. Old Fear Of The Father
04. Foot Fall To The Path
05. Death Row
06. Red White And Black
07. 0 1 Tear
08. All Time Low
09. Outside Eden
10. Passages End
11. Time Capsule