Magma’s take:

A music festival set within London’s most iconic Neoclassical art centre.

Marking her third appearance at Summer Series, following stand-out performances in 2006 and 2010, Leeds legend Corinne Bailey Rae presents a special live show for her acclaimed LP Black Rainbows.

Bailey Rae shot to stardom with her self-titled number one UK debut album in 2006, featuring the global hits Put Your Records On and Like A Star. She then released three critically acclaimed studio albums - Corinne Bailey Rae, The Sea and The Heart Speaks in Whispers -  earning two Grammy Awards, two MOBOs, plus nominations for multiple awards including the BRIT Awards, Mercury Music Prize and BET Awards.

Her latest LP Black Rainbows took an entirely different writing approach and has produced a career redefining, critically adored musical curveball. To say that Bailey Rae was inspired by her visits to Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago doesn’t do justice to the profound nature of her experience. She was so transformed that songs began taking shape before she’d even left the building on her first visit back in 2017.

Constructed in 1923 on the South Side of Chicago, the building was purchased by renowned artist Theaster Gates in 2012 and reimagined as a cathedral of Black art, housing a one-of-a-kind space for innovation and archives.  

Drawing upon objects, artworks and extraordinary personal histories, the 10-track LP which Bailey Rae created from these cathartic visits and experiences is both a testament to the stimulating power of the Stony Island Arts Bank collection and the depth of her songwriting and vocal performances. The dizzying spectrum of sounds and emotions which she covers introduces entirely new elements to her songwriting, confounding expectations and re-setting her career.

Her Summer Series performance will see Bailey Rae perform this extraordinary album in full with a live band set-up.