Second Line

The accompanying music speaks for itself, filling every inch of Second Line’s constructed microcosm with the metallic hue of fuzzy synthesizers, reverberating chimes, and booming bass. Richard’s voice floats through it all, shepherding newcomers with an intoxicating haze.

The beats are decadent, but so too are the liberties she takes as an independent artist beholden to nothing but her own satisfaction.

Although there are fewer flat-out astonishing moments here than on the earlier LPs, numerous cuts elicit blues-shedding movement and seem unfadeable.

Second Line offers an impressive level of immersion from an artist who's spent years inviting us into her own personal universe.

The record feels like a culmination of all her experience, suffused into an album that threads decades of music and heritage into a thrilling, organic whole.

Yet another impressive and experimental addition to Dawn’s discography, Second Line proves that this prolific artist is not running out of steam or fresh ideas any time soon.

Second Line brings few changes, especially lyrically, but Richard largely makes up for her retreading with some of her sharpest hooks to date.

Subtitled ‘An Electro Revival’, Richard’s sixth album is nonetheless a sprawling affair; R&B, house and trap jostle alongside curios such as ‘Le Petit Morte (a lude)’ [sic], a break-up jam unexpectedly belted out over Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’.

Second Line is another strong turn from Richard, a successive trip through the different styles that have made up her evolution over the years. ... Her problem is in her execution of Second Line, an album that feels more scattershot the revolutionary. It doesn’t necessarily feel like regression but for an artist who has consistently topped herself, it falls short.

There are a lot of ideas, textures and moods that show she’s exploring her own artistry, but while the joy, freedom and fun are palpable, the result feels a bit messy.