Six years after releasing her debut album Prepare the Body, NYC-via-New-Orleans songwriter Lake Dorn is returning to announce her follow-up record, Black American Princess. Since 2020, the artist has remained busy as a professional dancer with performances everywhere from the Guggenheim to MoCA LA. She also transitioned during this period, with a similar sense of fully realized identity inspiring the tracks on the new LP as the collection embraces elements of classic R&B, club music, and pop. That first reference point informs the project’s first single “Pasadena,” which gives the genre a modern twist less in its composition than in its subject matter.
“‘Pasadena’ is inspired by a long situationship I just couldn’t let go of,” the artist shares of track, its smoothness contrasting remarkably with the frustrations and ambiguity that often define such flings. “It’s about knowing something won’t last, but desperately wanting it to feel like it did in the beginning. It’s called ‘Pasadena’ because he was from there, but even after we were done, I was constantly forced to drive by the places we used to go. It became this haunting that was annoyingly torturous and pleasurable at the same time.”
Check out the video for the track below, which sees Lake Dorn reliving her SoCal romance on grainy film, and pre-save the record here.
