After her three previous multinight engagements with the Minnesota Orchestra and their groundbreaking 2019 live album, you might think Dessa would be chill about performing at Orchestra Hall again this weekend.
Dessa's 'unnatural' Minnesota Orchestra pairing resumes this week with new album news
Her record, "Bury the Lede," was unveiled ahead of this week's three big gigs at Orchestra Hall.
August 1, 2023 at 1:13PM
You'd be as wrong as anyone who ever doubted hip-hop and classical music could go well together.
"I was up at 3:30 a.m. trying to hypnotize myself back to sleep," Dessa admitted last week as concert preparations neared.
"It's such a big stage, and such a big show. It's a prime opportunity for me to have nightmares about forgetting my lyrics."
Talking by phone from her apartment in New York City last week just a few hours before getting on a plane back to Minneapolis — she still spends many weeks per year back in her hometown — the rapper, singer, songwriter, author, poet and podcast host also was excited about another big development this week: a new album announcement.
Ahead of her nearly sold-out three-show Orchestra Hall run Thursday through Saturday, Dessa's team revealed Tuesday that her latest LP, "Bury the Lede," is available for preorder and will arrive Sept. 29 via her longtime Minneapolis label Doomtree Records.
Of course, fans of Dessa's previous five records — going back to 2010's "A Badly Broken Code" and its abused-woman ode "Dixon's Girl" — would not be surprised to learn those upbeat sounds still belie darker, headier lyrics. "Hurricane Party" is also the album's lead-off track and sets the lyrical tone for what's to come, Dessa said.
"The record really leans into the metaphor of there being a hurricane outside our door, but we can still have fun indoors," she explained.
"I think a lot of the songs recognize the constant deluge of chaotic messaging that's been a part of our lives these past years, some of which is totally necessary and some of which seems a bit too alarmist. It's hard to know how to prioritize all the chaos."
As she's wont to do, Dessa cited a poet, Charles Simic (raised in Yugoslavia during World War II), to explain the concept further.
"He talked about how even during the bombings in his childhood, there were still adventures to be had and kids goofing off and people falling in love. That stuff still exists even amid a catastrophic environment."
Some of the record's musical stylings are in line with Dessa's new touring band, a New York-based duo with keyboardist/producer Joshua Holmgren and singer Aviva Jaye. Look for an orchestra-less First Avenue show with them to promote the album later this year.
Her new bandmates also will be aboard for this week's Orchestra Hall concerts along with many of her longtime local cohorts, including longtime singing partner Aby Wolf and other co-vocalists Ashley DuBose and Cameron Kinghorn.
A couple of songs off the upcoming album will be added to the set list for this weekend's orchestral concerts, and that's not all that will be new. Some of the tunes she previously recorded with the orchestra also have been given new arrangements via her longtime producer/arranger Andy Thompson.
"All parties were excited to dream up something new," she said. "This won't be a reprisal of past shows, but a new presentation."
That includes a new narrative theme. Her 2017 orchestra concerts centered around a study she co-helmed searching for the physical source of heartache — a topic she also explored in her part-memoir 2018 book, "My Own Devices," and in her BBC/American Public Media-produced science podcast, "Deeply Human."
Dessa offered this as a rather scintillating teaser to what kind of narrative she's shaping up for this year's concerts:
"The themes that will be explored are the philosophical idea of the ship of Theseus, and a trip to the dentist that I took where I got a lot of nitrous," she said, and left it at that.
Some naysayers thought the Minnesota Orchestra's leaders might have been high on laughing gas when they first invited an underground rapper to collaborate on stage, but the partnership has proved fruitful and longevous.
"It seems unnatural," Dessa admitted, singling out conductor Sarah Hicks and Orchestra Hall's director for live programming Grant Meachum for making the musical hybrid work.
"I think they're just generally curious and eager to try new, cool, weird and artful ideas. There's a playfulness on their end that's refreshing."
For her part, she said her orchestral leanings did not come from as far afield as one might have guessed, especially since her dad, Bob Wander, is a classical musician.
"Those sounds were very much a part of a childhood," she said. "More and more, I've leaned into the idea of big, dramatic, beautiful sweeping sounds."
Still, despite the success of the orchestra performances, Dessa remained the rare rapper who did not over-brag about her ability and know-how in the case of this week's concerts.
"It's still like I'm at Wimbledon playing at pickleball level," she cracked, "but I love the game."
Dessa & Minnesota Orchestra
When: 8 p.m. Thu.-Sat.
Where: Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Mpls.
Tickets: $44-$79, minnesotaorchestra.org.
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