The Cincinnati-born, Los Angeles-based musician Brittney Denise Parks, better known as Sudan Archives, has been on the vanguard of avant-pop, electronic music, folk, and hip-hop since dropping her debut album Athena in 2019. She uses her acrobatic voice and signature electric violin to push all of these genres, blending sweeping orchestral moments with triumphant fiddle arcs, electronic experimentation, and so much more. Her technical prowess is met only by her prodigious emotional range—a single song can move from haunting to charged and invigorating or (rightfully) cocky within a few beats.
Today, Sudan drops her third album, The BPM (Stones Throw Records), a dance release that weaves elements of house, drum and bass, techno, and trap into her layered, diasporic sound. The album’s tracks are fast, leaving you no choice but to get on your feet. But it never abandons the core depth that defines Sudan’s lyricism and approach to arrangement. (See: “She’s Got Pain,” a rumination on moving through the world with visible suffering that offers its protagonist a blueprint on survival). With The BPM, Sudan also conjures a new character, Gadget Girl, an alter ego that brings out Sudan’s inner geek, with her violin and other tech becoming powerful tools. She’ll transform into her on stage as she performs in cities across Europe this fall.
We caught up over Zoom—Sudan calling in from her new Los Angeles loft—to talk about this fresh avatar, the meditation music she has on repeat, and why she believes The BPM is her most powerful release yet.
Tell us about this shift into dance music. Where did you begin?
I knew I wanted to make music that was faster than what I’ve put out before. But I also wanted people to dance, and you can’t tell people what to do. You just have to manipulate them in a healthy way, musically.
I started by working with my engineer in L.A. and getting out every idea that I had in my head: putting down the song structure, the melodies, the violin ideas. From there, we worked with a couple producers in Detroit, and they would rework some drums. I remember telling them, “Can you make this more dance-y?” I went to Chicago and got the quartet to replay the parts that I played; we mixed their strings like mine, and that made an even bigger sound.
Your family was a part of the album, as well.
My cousin and my twin sister wrote lyrics with me, because they were just in the room having fun. They weren’t really taking it seriously, but I was telling them, “You guys are writing on the record!”
Can you tell us more about the Gadget Girl persona? How are you going to represent this on stage?
I feel like I am a Gadget Girl already. But it’s going to be enhanced through the wardrobe and the way we design the stage. There will be no band members—instead, there will be stations on the stage that represent themes of gadgets. I’m going to be interacting with my violin bow, [my bow] is going to interact with the lights, and when I move the bow, maybe it’ll control the next song. Stuff like that.
Let’s get into these Culture Diet questions. What books are on your bedside table?
There’s a book about African intimacy. My friend Sai gave me this book called Stillness Speaks. And my trainer gave me this book called The Body Keeps the Score.
Which song do you have on repeat?
All I listen to at the house is literally meditation music. Sometimes I listen to stuff that my friends are making, and popular music. But right now I’m in this meditation music phase. There’s this album by [the Norwegian artist] Carmen Villain. She plays the saxophone, but really, she makes meditative music. Ani Choying Drolma [a Nepalese nun] has an album called Inner Peace. She’s reciting these hymns, repeating herself. It’s pretty and relaxing. If I’m not trying to hear any words I put on Hz music.
What’s the last show you binged?
I don’t watch TV at all now that I’m in this loft.
It’s beautiful. I see the high ceilings.
I do have a TV right here, but the last thing I watched was when my friends came over. I really wanted them to watch Coming to America with me. Then we saw Coming 2 America, and it was so bad.
What’s the last thing you Googled on your phone?
Oh, Robert L. Collins, because I was so mad at Coming 2 America! I was like, who was the director of photography for the first one, and who was the director of photography for the second one?!
What’s the last live show you saw that inspired you?
I saw Deantoni Parks. He’s a drummer, but on the left hand, he drums, and on the right hand he does drum programming on a drum machine. It feels superhuman.
You have that, too. Are you excited to start to tour your album?
I’m excited to perform, because I want to see how this whole theme plays out. I feel like this is my strongest album, with the strongest narrative.
What do you want people to get out of it?
It’s one of those albums that is very driving. People are saying, “When I hear it, I just want to go work out.” I want people to feel powerful when they hear it, and to understand that the power is within you.
Source: W Magazine
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