Following the success of her debut album, 2015’s Back In Time (produced by the late great Prince) acclaimed vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Judith Hill returns with her new single and video “The Pepper Club.”
Written and produced by Hill, featuring her stunning trademark vocals and brimming with the funky R&B she has risen to fame with—via appearances on The Voice and the Oscar-winning documentary 20 Feet From Stardom—the track is the first from her forthcoming album Golden Child. The LP is slated for release in late 2018 on her own Gloryhill label.
“I was just writing organically from the heart,” Hill tells Billboard of the 13-track album. “As I kept creating, I realized there was a story to be told, a message that carried a common thread.”
To celebrate the release of the album later this year, Hill will premiere a live performance of Golden Child in Los Angeles that infuses modern dance and soul music flavored with African, samba, classical, Arabic and more cultural textures that are featured throughout the album.
The performance will be a structured ballet template in the style of Circe du Soleil with the freedom, spontaneity and improvisation of a funk concert.
Filmed in Los Angeles and directed by award-winning filmmaker Jon Jon “JJ” Augustavo, “The Pepper Club” video introduces some of the characters that will appear in the live musical. The video cast includes choreographers Bradley Rapier and Tessandra Chavez, So You Think You Can Dance champ Lex Ishimoto and fellow season 14 finalist and Ishimoto’s girlfriend Taylor Sieve. The Pepper Club itself is an obscure speakeasy in the desert where everyone can be accepted for themselves.
Check out the video above.
