This joy that I have
The world didn’t give it to me
The world didn’t give it, the world can’t take it away
The Resistance Revival Chorus, a collective of more than 70 women and non-binary singers have announced their debut album This Joy to be released on October 16th via Righteous Babe Records. The album features original compositions along with protest classics and was recorded in New York City with GRAMMY-nominated producer Tiffany Gouché. The album is 100% created by women, non-binary artists and features special guests Rhiannon Giddens, Valerie June and Deva Mahal. Righteous Babe’s Ani DiFranco says of the Chorus: “The RRC is like an antidote to silence and submission. In this age of division and hopelessness, let us listen to their collective voice and get lifted. Let us remember who we really are.”
To coincide with the release of their new album, the chorus have released their Geneva Peschka directed video for title track “This Joy,” with animation from Jenny Scales, edited by Maximilla Lukacs. The song, composed by Shirley Caesar, produced by Tiffany Gouché and Abena Koomson-Davis - who’s also singing lead vocals - “This Joy” perfectly captures the chorus’ musical manifesto of finding joy through protest. Says Koomson-Davis, "In recording this album, I was reminded that embracing one another in melody, harmony and rhythm is practice and preparation for the kind of word we want to live in...if we are willing to listen to each other deeply."
This Joy was recorded in New York City over the space of several months, with the chorus working around Covid-quarantine, and taking to the streets to protest for BLM. "Working with the chorus last year was one of the most healing and rejuvenating experiences I’ve ever had in my life.It was simply love manifested," says Tiffany Gouche. "You can feel the joy and sincerity in their hearts through each and every record. I am truly blessed and humbled by this experience and look forward to anything that pertains to them."
The Resistance Revival Chorus is a collective of more than 70 women and non-binary singers, who join together to breathe joy and song into the resistance, and to uplift and center women’s voices, especially the voices of black women and women of color. Members are touring musicians, film and television actors, Broadway performers, solo recording artists, gospel singers, political activists, educators, filmmakers, artists, and more, representing a multitude of identities, professions, creative backgrounds, and activist causes. The Resistance Revival Chorus was founded in the wake of the 2017 Women's March and strives to center women in music and address how historically marginalized women have been in the music industry. They’ve backed Ke$ha at the GRAMMYs, performed on The Tonight Show with Jim James, sung Spanish lullabies to detained migrant children outside a New York holding facility, and been shouted-out on Twitter by hometown hero Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. When they’re not performing on stages like Carnegie Hall and the Apollo, The Resistance Revival Chorus regularly hits the NYC streets, advocating for social justice across the spectrum. From standing in solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives and calling to defund the police, The Resistance Revival Chorus has been involved in many activist causes including reproductive rights, the anti-muslim ban, Climate Change, LGBTQIA+ rights at PRIDE and attending the March For Our Lives. The RRC brings music to the movement.
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