Happy day: On Tuesday morning, multi-Grammy-nominated San Diego R&B/soul chanteuse Andra Day released a brand-new song titled "Amen" via Warner Bros. Records. The track, which is also currently featured in the new ad campaign for the Genesis G80 sedan, features the platinum-selling singer's signature powerful vocals that tower over a stirring piano ballad [listen/buy it here].
Still at work on her highly-anticipated studio follow-up to her 2015 mainstream breakout debut album, "Cheers to the Fall," "Amen" is Day's first single since last year's Academy Award-nominated anthem, "Stand Up For Something" (featuring Common), from the "Marshall" film soundtrack. The two stars performed the song during the 90th annual Academy Awards gala back in March.
"I decided to sing the song because 'Amen' means 'it is done,' and that for me means so much," Day said about the new single in a press release. "To me, it lays to rest things in the past, things that have hurt, and things I can’t control. It reminds me that I’m not defined by those things, and though I can’t control them, that doesn’t mean they control me. It also gives me faith for my present and future, to go for the bigger dream, to take the harder road -- the one that scares me -- and to endure through trials, because nothing can take away my purpose. My greatness is already written. Everyone’s greatness is, and I hope this song helps them see that."
Additionally, Genesis, Warner Bros. Records and Day have teamed up to make a collective donation to Unlikely Heroes, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that rescues, restores, and rehabilitates child victims of sex slavery around the world.
Born Cassandra Monique Batie, Day moved to Southern California from Spokane, Washington when she was 3 years old. She began singing at Chula Vista's First United Methodist Church soon thereafter and began taking dance lessons when she was 5. Citing legends Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Dinah Washington as huge influences, Day was discovered in 2010 by Stevie Wonder's then-wife, Kai Millard, while performing at a strip mall. Millard set up a meeting with Wonder, who then connected Day with acclaimed producer Adrian Gurvitz and the two would go on to collaborate on "Cheers to the Fall."
That album's smash hit single, "Rise Up," was featured in a Beats By Dre commercial featuring Serena Williams and led to Day's starring role in a holiday Apple Music commercial with Wonder later that year. In October 2015, she was tapped to sing the hit at the White House for a crowd that included President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama.
"Cheers to the Fall" would also garner Day two 2016 Grammy Award nominations: Best R&B Album and Best R&B Performance (for "Rise Up"). She also performed on the second day of the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, and was nominated for Outstanding New Artist at the 2016 NAACP Awards. As further proof that she can literally do anything, she voiced the character Sweet Tea in the Pixar blockbuster film "Cars 3."
Day's sophomore album just can't come soon enough but Tuesday's single at least satiates our appetite for the time being. Simply put: Anything new from Day is music to our ears -- and I think we can all say "Amen" to that.
