Today, Allison Russell has announced her third studio album, In The Hour of Chaos, produced by Russell and Dim Star and arriving on July 10th via Fantasy Records. To mark the occasion she has shared the single “Cold April” featuring her tourmate Kara Jackson, Denitia and the Explore! Pop Choir. LISTEN HERE.
Allison Russell on “Cold April”
Things are rough. Things have been rough before.Cold April is not laying out the grim facts of the moment. Cold April asks if we can let the music itself restore and recharge us. The act of singing with my sisters, Kara Jackson and Denitia, is a balm for my soul, and a wind at my back to keep on. And my daughter Ida’s Explore! Pop Choir?!… Let them tell it:
“Calling all birds from across the nation
yeah we got a brand new murmuration
we don’t have to fly in that
old formation, no”
Youth – and Love – will be served!
Allison Russell’s In the Hour of Chaos is a fervent plea for connection in this time of alienation, isolation and dread. These are songs meant to reverse the tides that pull us farther and farther apart, even from ones we love the most.This is a record meant to make you feel GOOD, and, in these times, feeling good is a radical act. It’s only fitting then, that Russell leaned into her vibrant and ever expanding community of artists and friends to create a collaborative song suite that goes far beyond a succession of features.
The songs unfold like a series of one act plays with Allison, who joins with an artist(s) from her rainbow diaspora, many from her adopted home in Nashville. Tactile, vulnerable, raw, soothing, sensual, sad – each is a little capsule of humans being fully human and fully present. From the quiet reckoning of “No Springtime” with Joy Oladokun and Julie Williams, to the joy- with-a-splash-of-sadness that is “Cold April,” where Kara Jackson, Denitia, Russell’s daughter and Ida’s Explore! Pop Choir add intergenerational depth, Allison Russell curates collaborators with care: Brittney Spencer’s earthy soul on “Black Lavender,” Norah Jones’ intimate ease on “Really Real,” Ruby Amanfu’s vulnerable grace on “Just Like Saturday” – all serve as portals into our flawed, fantastic, interconnected lives.
Elsewhere, Devon Gilfillian brings effortless warmth to “Love is a Golden Lion,” Kashus Culpepper lends grit and swagger to “Searchlight,” Chibueze Ihuoma adds an otherworldly tenderness to “Two Stars,” and Ahya Simone’s incomparable harp closes the circle with the haunting “Good Omens.” Across these songs, Russell holds the center effortlessly, while illuminating the voices of her chosen family. She turns these throughlines into golden thread, strengthening as she weaves, the only protection she knows against the chaos of this hour.
The tour will make two stops in Michigan. The first stop will be at the Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre on July 15th and the following night at the brand-new state of the art Acrisure Amphitheater in Grand Rapids, Michigan on July 16th.