(New York, New York – September 14, 2010) – Candice Anitra has been bearing witness to alchemy at work. Bark then Bite is the product of progressive chemistry coming together: 15 days at Studio G in Brooklyn with magical producer|engineer|artist Joel Hamilton, the same month he was wrapping Billboard’s #1 Top Heatseeker’s album Blakroc; Dub Trio’s return from Matisyahu’s tour to lay the musical foundations of the album with past credits including 50 Cent, Mos Def, Common, The Fugees and Tupac Shakur; Marika Hughes’s rolling through with her cello one Saturday morning after playing for Whitney Houston’s release; Soulive’s Neal Evans’s recording his organ in a hotel room overseas; and lastly, Scotty Hard’s remixing of “Objectify” with cameos by influential jazz artists Steven Bernstein, Kenny Wolleson and Michael Blake – a confluence of fortuitous forces for her debut LP released nationally on September 14th, 2010.
“A pacifist in pumps / Not afraid to throw a punch / Or eat your hurt feelings for lunch,†says Candice Anitra on the female powered anthem “Too Much Woman.†Amidst Candice’s progressive feminist angle is a sound that is simultaneously new and vintage – producer Joel Hamilton references the music as “Tina Turner meets The Beatles†or “Fiona Apple meets India.Arie.â€
Candice Anitra proves herself a force who could make a definitive mark on a new decade of music, art and politics. The songstress pushes the envelope with an infusion of funked up rock n’ roll complete with sexually-seductive politically-progressive lyrical content. The album’s title reflects its ferocity. It is soul music in the genre’s deepest and broadest sense, the music stretches beyond standard definitions but captures Candice’s vision as an artist.
Candice Anitra defines herself as a singer-songwriter-alchemist. Her words turn life’s grist into gold. The first single “Objectify†flips the script on typical notions of objectification and celebrates the sensual and liberating opportunities to be “objectified†according to one’s own self-definition. With the opening track “White Lines†Bark then Bite begins with hard hitting percussion. The song is a challenge to single-minded, short-sighted, patronizing ideologies – a literal response to Ann Coulter but figuratively suggesting the possibilities for personal transformation. The uptempo “Let’s Continue†could easily be a hit single without sacrificing depth, profoundly advancing a romance while cautioning against the relationship’s preceding shortcomings. Marika Hughes tantalizes with her cello on the track’s extended outro. Songs like “Take Me,†“Cross the Water,†“Bad Taste†and “Dark Things†possess melodies that recall Sade’s sultriness but lyrics that are more sensually provocative and emotionally ambiguous (a la’ Meshell N’Degeocello). “We Are Love†which was featured as a Valentine’s Day Promo on GLAAD.org manifests itself as a catchy homage to the power of the human spirit, written out of dismay of California’s passage of Proposition 8 in November 2008. The song is an offered anthem for the gay rights and marriage equality movements, a rebuke of intolerance but ultimately a celebration of love’s transcendent possibilities.
Upcoming Shows:
September 14/Washington DC: Liv, 11th & U Streets NW)
September 15/New York City: S.O.B.s (Sol Village), 204 Varick St
September 16 & 17/Philadelphia, PA: Elena’s Soul 4912 Baltimore Ave.
October 22/Cambridge, MA: Tommy Doyle’s 96 Winthrop St.
