Natural Brown Prom Queen Is a Wild Ride Through Sudan Archives’ Restless Mind
Third full-length album finds Brittney Parks further expanding her sound
On her earliest EPs under the name Sudan Archives—2017’s Sink and 2018’s self-titled—Brittney Parks was equal parts skilled instrumentalist and songwriter, Afro-futuristic pop star and stylistic outlier: a Black woman who fused her lifelong training on the violin with hip-hop beats, electronically looped sounds and African music influences bolstered by her ethnomusicology studies in college.
Parks’ first full-length, 2019’s Athena, expanded on that sound, pairing Parks with a handful of producers who surrounded her songs with lush and psychedelic vibes. Athena was different but not too different, and more importantly, it painted Parks as an artist with the vision and versatility to do, basically, whatever she wants.
Which brings us to Natural Brown Prom Queen, the third Sudan Archives full-length and, at 18 tracks long, an undeniable “statement album” from an artist with plenty to say. NBPQ, as we’ll call it, is a wild ride through Parks’ restless mind, bouncing around among styles like a wide-eyed kid on their first visit to a sweet playground in the wealthy part of town. Sometimes, the album switches styles so quickly, you can practically hear Parks tiring of one toy, dropping it and moving on to the next one that catches her eye. This is not necessarily a bad thing; NBPQ is as thrilling as it is, at times, jarring.
Take, for example, the album’s opening five tracks: The first minute or so of “Home Maker” sounds like a soulful DJ Shadow instrumental. Then, the song settles into its main disco-funk groove, with a surprise playground-chant bridge popping in near the end. Lyrically, Parks introduces a recurring theme of the album—her own insecurity:
I cry when I’m alone
All these people don’t know
That I deal with all of these doubts
They get out once a while
Next, “NBPQ (Topless)” runs through a rubbery bouzouki riff, a speedy club-banger beat, a sumptuous Beach Boys-style interlude and a drowsy coda where Parks finally brings her violin to the front of the arrangement.