FEATURE:
Revisiting…
Sudan Archives - Natural Brown Prom Queen
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THE amazing second studio album…
PHOTO CREDIT: Edwig Henson
from Sudan Archives is one I want to highlight for Revisiting…. Brittney Parks’ alter ego released her debut, Athena, in 2019. A brilliant debut and one of the best albums of that year, Sudan Archives’ second album, Natural Brown Prom Queen, I think is even finer! It did get great reviews last year, but I think it should have been placed higher in many end-of-year lists. Definitely a top-five album of 2022, I want to put it back in the Spotlight. Released in September, this is an album that everyone needs to discover and embrace! I will come to a couple of reviews for the staggering Natural Brown Prom Queen. There are a couple of interviews around the release of Natural Brown Prom Queen that I want to bring in. Women in Pop back in September. It is clear that, even though her debut was amazing and ambitious, she has stepped up a few gears on her second studio album:
“Today she releases her second album Natural Brown Prom Queen. It is arguably her most ambitious work to date, eighteen tracks long and taking everything back to the very foundation of who she is – a celebration of home and of family and relationships, all through the eyes of ‘Britts’, the character she inhabits for the album.
Again, Parks creates a wide range of sounds on the album. There is a R&B foundation to much of the album, but there are also plenty of intriguing sonic twists and turns. ‘Home Maker’ is a funky, disco infused track that conjures up the 1970s music scene, while ‘Selfish Soul’ is a booming track that brings together rap, pop, R&B and violin in one euphoric track. ‘Homesick (Gorgeous & Arrogant)’ is an intimate ballad, while latest single ‘OMG BRITT’ is a sultry, sensual hip-hop track. ‘NBPQ (Topless)’ barrels along with a pulsing beat that morphs into a electronic experimental track with Parks switching between rapid fire rapping and beautifully sweet vocals before ending on classical violin. The raw lyrics discuss Parks’ life long struggle with racism: “Sometimes I think that if I was light-skinned / Then I would get into all the parties,” she sings.
Natural Brown Prom Queen is personal, candid and raw, confronting difficult issues including race, self-worth and gender inequality, but also the joy and love embedded in family, friends and where we come from. It is quite possibly Parks’ greatest work to date and an album to savour from beginning to end as a complete body of work. We recently caught up with Sudan Archives to chat more about the creation of the album.
Hi Brittany, it is an absolute joy to grab some time with you today. How are things in your very talented musical world?
They are pretty good. I’ve just been performing the new songs at all of these festivals and that's been fun and new. It's just nice doing some new stuff. I feel like I was playing my older stuff for like years! It makes touring way more fun being like, ‘oh, what new song am I gonna play today?’
Absolutely. I'm imagining the crowd is completely eating it up. How has the reaction been from the crowd? They're dancing, which is what I want!
Beautiful. Your new album Natural Brown Prom Queen is such an incredible album. You make joyful music but at the same time you talk about such incredibly important issues. What was your motive going in to Natural Brown Prom Queen?
I don't really know what the motive was, but I made everything in my basement, which I've never done before. I usually would have to record in my bedroom or in other people's studios, but because COVID happened, I made the studio. I was able to finally come down here and figure out how to make it liveable. I feel like that was like the biggest motive of the album, to make it homemade and to make everything in-house.
You're such a multi talented taskmaster when it comes to creating music anyway. Did you feel that making it in house it increased your confidence as an artist, to be able to go ‘do you know what? I can do all of this.’
I always knew I could do all of it, but for some reason I feel like my writing levelled up. Probably because since my first EP I always have been feeling very rushed to put out more material. But COVID slowed everything down and made me realise that I don't really need as many hands on the project, but I just need time.
It's such a different album to Athena. How did you balance your desire to still be experimental alongside what I imagine is the pressure to create something just as good?
Well, I kept this area [in the basement] as the experimental zone and kept an open mind. I let other people collaborate remotely, so it didn't interfere with what I was doing down here. That's the biggest difference, because before I was taking what I was doing here, putting it on my computer, and taking it to other studios, and then having to like build it with them in person. And I don't really think I work best that way. It worked out better just to keep everything here, stay here and never leave and always be in the experimental zone. And then just checking my email for people's contributions and being like, ‘I like that, I don't like that’, or ‘Oh, I like both of those things, let's make that the verse and make that the hook’. I was doing a lot of things I would have never even done before if I was in the studio with each person separately. Instead of working with one person on one song, three people would do something to one song. That's kind of how I feel like I've beat what I did previously, because the more people you have, that are talented, working on one thing, the better”.
I am going to come to an NME from November. It was a point when Sudan Archives was touring Europe. NME saluted an artist, violinist and Pop songwriter who had released one of the defining albums of that year. A truly inspiring artist, there is nobody in music like the amazing Sudan Archives:
“She set up a home studio in the house she shares with her partner, All City Jimmy aka James McCall. It felt like a long overdue objective she finally got to accomplish which, in turn, allowed her to focus primarily on her music. “I spent more time in the studio than at home,” she says. Situated in the basement of her house, it has a separate entrance, allowing Parks to build out a studio full of plants.
“I always knew I wanted a studio in my house, but it worked out perfectly where I live now,” she explains. “It’s a cute little small space where I have all seven different instruments hanging up on the walls. It’s like my little cave.”
Bunkering down in her studio allowed Sudan Archives to create an album that, for her, was a reflection of her abilities. “As I began the creative process, I knew I didn’t want to work with people I didn’t know, like strangers,” she says. “I would rather work with people I have relationships with, But at the same time, if someone were to come along, who has a great idea, and they want to put it on the album, I’m not going to say no. At the end of the day, I want the songs to be the best they can be.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Ally Green
With an original title of ‘Homesick’, the album ended up being a mirror of Parks’ upbringing with her use of the violin throughout a natural incorporation of how she demystifies the traditional way of using the instrument.
“[Cat] was saying how on this album I’ve learned how to incorporate my violin in different ways,” Parks explains. “I didn’t even realise that when I started making the album, as I’m not even aware of what I’m doing. I’m just going with the feeling or what I’m feeling. I started off with looping and layering instruments, vocals and melodies until there was a song created.”
The violin plays an influential part in what is an indisputably effortless pop record. It’s confident and steadfast in its authenticity. With lines like, “Sometimes I think that if I was light-skinned / Then I would get into all the parties / Win all the Grammys, make the boys happy / Fuck lookin’ sassy, they think I’m sexy,” she peppers the album with uncompromising lyrics all seamlessly underpinned by infectious melodies.
PHOTO CREDIT: Ally Green
“Melodies have always come really naturally to me,” she says. “Even growing up, when I listened to the radio, I would always be humming along, but to a higher octave. I think I’ve had to learn how to hone in more on my production skills and growing to incorporate the violin.”
With the release of ‘Natural Brown Prom Queen’, Sudan Archives has certified itself in contemporary culture. Her talent isn’t just for the underground to celebrate, but for everyone to witness what is a generational talent coming into full bloom. The release of the album sees all the coiled energy of her entire life exalted onto a project that is the perfect marriage between vulnerability and honesty whilst being overwhelmingly infectious.
Though she may miss Goldie the python, her home studio, and the comforts of being in Los Angeles, Brittney Parks now gets to play the record to crowds across Europe who have been awaiting her presence for years, and it feels natural. “This feels a lot different than when I was just doing a couple of songs. I’m not used to playing for over an hour on stage, but I’m so grateful I get to do that”.
I am going to come to a couple of glowing reviews for the mighty Natural Brown Prom Queen. It is an album that Pitchfork named their second-favourite of 2022. The New York Times placed it at four. I think that it passed some by, and some reviews were a little underwhelming. Natural Brown Prom Queen deserves five-star reviews across the board. This is what CLASH noted in their review:
“Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, producer and violinist Sudan Archives, real name Brittany Denise Parks, has returned with her long-awaited sophomore effort, ‘Natural Brown Prom Queen’. This sophomore album has come nearly three years after Sudan Archives’ critically acclaimed debut, 2019’s ‘Athena’, with little output in-between aside from a pair of remixes in 2020.
‘Natural Brown Prom Queen’ is a shapeshifting sonic endeavour through flashes of pop, electronica, R&B and hip-hop, but still feels a facilely coalesce and coherent experience. A prime example of Sudan Archives’ multi-genre skills is opener ‘Home Maker’ which is introduced with a drawn out, ambient-tinted intro, with foundations laid by a droning synth. Instruments drop in and out, creating an unpredictable atmosphere only glued together by vintage cinematic instrumental moments. Track two, ‘NBPQ (Topless)’ works in a similar format; frantic hand claps and wobbly riffage lead into a head-on flow from Parks’.
‘Yellow Brick Road’, the penultimate track on the record, dives into the pop element with crystal clarity. But even here, the listener is treated to a delightful instrumental passage, complete with natural textures, ambient swells and jangling bells – as well as the trumpet leitmotif teased on the opening track. ‘ChevyS10’ sits at the halfway point of the record track-wise, and is a six-minute electronica epic, culminating in a club ready house-meets-afrobeat breakdown. Across the record Sudan Archives’ vocal range is prevalent, whether it be softly crooning or spitting raps. ‘Milk Me’ is a moment on the album laced with heavenly vocal harmonies, layered over a rich backbone over percussive breaks and glittery melodies. The entire project shifts and morphs so much it is never boring, an incredible achievement considering the hefty eighteen-tracks. Even the short interludes throughout are interesting, and remain on the experimental wavelength of the tracks they are sandwiched between.
While ‘Athena’ focused in on Parks’ ability as a violinist, and rightfully so, this sophomore LP clearly wants to be a distinct step forward from the debut. ‘Natural Brown Prom Queen’ opens up dozens of auditory avenues, with glitch leaning cuts like ‘Copycat (Broken Notions)’ exemplifying that perfectly. Sudan Archives is proving that she is an artist who knows no bounds, and projects like this one are what is going to propel her further into acclaim and stardom.
8/10”.
The Line of Best Fit had their say about an album that seems to reveal new things every time I listen to it. There is no doubt Sudan Archives is among the finest artists in the world. This is more than evident throughout Natural Brown Prom Queen. If you have not heard the album, then please spend some time with it:
“Opener “Home Maker,” for example, shows Parks transitioning from an avant/ambient jazz intro (reverb-dabbed horns and sharp snare beats) to a funk-inflected R&B groove. Facilitating radical pivots and segues unprecedented in earlier work, Parks offers a supple and well-nuanced vocal, conjuring a moody Beyoncé.
“I’m not average,” Parks insists on the title song. Bolstered by bouncy synths and manic beats, along with a classically toned bridge that would get a grin from Brian Wilson, Parks shifts between self-glorification and hurling shade at those who get conned by player types. “Copycat,” meanwhile, points to Parks’ affinity for the hip-hop playbook, her smooth sprechstimme unfolding amidst a welter of synthy dashes and spry beats.
The album’s most memorable chorus unfurls in “Freakalizer,” Parks’ vocal fusing the chic house-party vibe of FKA Twigs’ Caprisongs and the more mercurial intonations of Rihanna circa Anti. “ChevyS10” is a percussive foray that similarly puts Parks’ vocal skills on center stage, the singer providing dynamic and interwoven lead, back-up, and harmony parts.
“Homesick (“Gorgeous & Arrogant)” features Parks as she navigates a mix of loungey horns and noirish synths. As the piece progresses, however, it veers toward a darkwave gestalt, echoey beats merging with sonorous bass notes. In this way, Parks again demonstrates her ability to maneuver various stylistic shifts.
Over Natural Brown Prom Queen’s 53 minutes and 18 tracks, the Cincinnati-born Parks displays her compositional skills, penchant for winning melodies, and versatility as a performer. Most strikingly, the set documents Parks as she integrates myriad approaches, balancing discipline and the hedonistic impulse”.
One of the best albums of last year, I wanted to revisit Natural Brown Prom Queen. Maybe Sudan Archives is an artist some do not know about, so I do hope those unaware or new listen to her new album. It is absolutely stunning. After a successful 2022 for Sudan Archives, it is going to be thrilling to see…
WHAT this year holds.