Hear Hurray for the Riff Raff’s Dissenting New Song ‘Rican Beach’
With an activist’s soul and a penchant for musical exploration, singer-songwriter Alynda Segarra has used her band Hurray for the Riff Raff to stick up for the underdog for about a decade now. But in announcing the release of the band’s new album The Navigator, it seems like her mix of folk, blues and pop is getting more politically charged than ever.
Coming out March 10th, The Navigator is the follow up to Hurray for the Riff Raff’s 2014 album Small Town Heroes. And in a post on Facebook, Segarra describes the massive scope of its theme.
“The Navigator is the call of your ancestors asking you to finally make things right,” she writes. “The Navigator is you trying to make your way through a society that says you are too brown, too female, too queer, or too smart for your own good. The Navigator defies borders. The Navigator is your child who believes in love. The Navigator is your father who has been to war and prays for peace. We all have an inner navigator who will guide us through this uncertain future. It’s time to listen.”
Born Of Puerto Rican descent, Segarra’s first release from The Navigator is called “Rican Beach,” and on Monday she shared a lyric video to go along with the track.
Built on Latin rhythms and full of delicate but determined vocals, she’s dedicated the feisty track to two separate groups of protesters: the Standing Rock Sioux and the people of Penuelas, Puerto Rico, who are fighting the dumping of coal ash in local landfills, which leads to water contamination.
Check out the animated video above, along with a complete list of Hurray for the Riff Raff’s upcoming tour dates below.
January 18 – London, England @ Sebright Arms
January 19 – Newcastle, England @ Cluny 2
January 20 – Glasgow, Scotland @ Celtic Connections at Drygate
January 21 – Bristol, England @ The Lantern
January 24 – Amsterdam, the Netherlands @ Paradiso, Upstairs
March 20 Leeds, England @ Brudenell
March 21 – Manchester, England @ Deaf Institute
March 22 – London, England @ The Dome
March 23 – Winchester, England @ The Railway Inn
March 25 – Brighton, England @ Sticky Mikes
March 28 – Brussels, Belgium @ Rotonde
March 29 – Hamburg, Germany @ Hakken
March 30 – Berlin, Germany @ Gruener Salon
March 31 – Munich, Germany @ Milla
April 2 – Münster, Germany @ American Series @ Pumpenhaus
April 3 – Rotterdam, the Netherlands @ Rotown
April 4 – Utrecht, the Netherlands @ EKKO
April 5 – Groningen, the Netherlands @ Vera
April 15 – Middlebury, VT @ Middlebury College
April 16 – Northampton, MA @ Academy of Music
April 18 – Cambridge, MA @ Sinclair
April 19 – Cambridge, MA @ Sinclair
April 20 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
April 21 – Philadelphia, PA @ World Café (downstairs)
April 23 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
April 24 – Cincinnati, OH @ Woodward Theater
April 25 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
April 27 – Detroit, MI @ Magic Bag
April 28 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
April 29 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon
April 30 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Café
May 2 – St. Louis, MO @ Old Rock House
May 3 – Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge
May 4 – Birmingham, AL @ The Saturn
May 5 – New Orleans, LA @ Civic Theatre