New Album, DEACON, Out Now on Secretly Canadian
os Angeles-based artist serpentwithfeet presents the video for “Heart Storm (with NAO)” from his new album, DEACON, out now on Secretly Canadian. DEACON is a study delving into Black, gay love and the tenderness present in the best companionships, romantic or otherwise. Its release was met with an incredible reception, including a New York Times feature and high praise from Time, NPR Music, Billboard, MTV News, Entertainment Weekly, and more. “Heart Storm” is “billowing and otherworldly and it makes love sound like a celestial invasion” (Stereogum). Premiered today by Grazia USA, the video was shot by Domo Jones and Alex Knowles in Los Angeles and London, connecting serpent and Nao via open white space and reflecting the track’s beauty and tension.
Watch serpentwithfeet’s Video for “Heart Storm (with NAO)”
The follow-up to his debut album, soil, one of 2018’s most praised albums of the year, DEACON highlights serpent’s growth as a songwriter, embracing straightforward approaches to expression. The album’s title takes its name from the Christian office, a figure who helps maintain order within the church and himself, and proudly follows in the tradition of R&B artists whose gifts were helmed in the Black church.
Praise for DEACON
“The music serpentwithfeet makes is immediately distinctive, harnessing his gospel and classical training to a startling emotional openness.” – New York Times
“Sinuous, meditative, tender, haunting: there are plenty of adjectives you could apply to serpentwithfeet’s DEACON but none of them quite illustrate the tenor of his music, which is equal parts inviting and shiver-inducing.” – Time, The Best Albums of 2021 So Far
“DEACON is a beautifully specific portrait of queer Black intimacy in all its forms, celebrating the sensual magic to be found in the mundane details of everyday domesticity.”
– Stereogum, #3 in Best Albums of 2021 So Far
“[DEACON is] a beautiful, touching album… it’s just full of all these sweet reflections on love and companionship” – NPR Music
“[DEACON is] an eager, effervescent tale of romance, outlining a genealogy that stretches from gospel to the shiny, gossamer R&B of the ’90s and ’00s.” – Pitchfork
“Exploring the complexities and joy of black gay romance, the album washes over you in waves of euphoria, with the songwriter’s gorgeous turn-of-phrase amplifying the simple, impactful production that will deeply touch you.” – Billboard
“[DEACON is] my pick for First Masterpiece of 2021.” – Bandcamp
