August 16, 2024 – Today, legendary, award-winning star of stage, screen, and music, Vanessa Williams, announces new details about her highly-anticipated new album, SURVIVOR, set for release on August 23, 2024 via Mellian Music / Mod Squad, LLC. The 14-track album, which marks her first new release in 15 years, is an exciting, genre-defying collection of songs that reflect Williams’ rich and diverse musical catalogue. SURVIVOR will be available as a digital album in Standard audio and also in Dolby Atmos immersive audio across all streaming platforms – available for pre-order now.
“SURVIVOR is an eclectic collection of songs that embraces my musical past and brings that history into the present and the future,” Williams shares. “It absolutely represents me musically and has something to say. I wanted to remind my loyal fans that I’m still here, don’t count me out and to bring my music to a whole new generation that might know be better for my stage and television roles.” She adds, “Playing with all of the different styles of music I’ve loved to perform over the years is just who I am as an artist, which I really attribute to my parents, who were music teachers. I listened to everything growing up and that has always inspired my diverse musical tastes.”
The announcement comes alongside the release of Williams’ newest track, “iLike Moonlight,” and its accompanying music video, which provides another glimpse into what fans can expect from the new music – LISTEN HERE.
Photo Credit: Mike Ruiz
The sensual, smooth R&B-inspired ballad is the third song to be released off the forthcoming album, following the first two singles – “BOP!,” featuring renowned multi-faceted artist and drag superstar, Trixie Mattel, and New York-bred electronic soul duo, LION BABE, comprised of multidisciplinary artist and Williams’ daughter Jillian Hervey and producer/DJ Lucas Goodman, also known as Astro Raw and Williams’ first pop recording in 15 years, “Legs (Keep Dancing),” which debuted at No. 3 on Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Digital Sales chart and surpassed a million digital streams in a matter of weeks.
Written by DeValle Groove Hayes, Loris Holland and Amber Mitchell, “iLike Moonlight” was the inspiration of veteran songwriter and producer, Loris Holland, known for his work with Celine Dion, Anita Baker, and Mariah Carey. “Loris was phenomenal,” Williams adds. “The song is very dreamy and kind of percussive and sexy.”
Holland is equally effusive about collaborating with Williams. “I grew up next to a 5-mile-wide river in the Amazon basin, moonlight hitting the water was always magical to me, always felt like the twilight zone,” says Holland, who was born in British Guiana. “This song was written for Vanessa, who is the queen of beauty and sparkle…I just envisioned her on the beach glittering like an emerald in the moonlight, soaking up the Caribbean breeze…and the idea for ‘iLike Moonlight’ was born. Her sultry, smooth, gorgeous tone and excellent melodic execution was the perfect marriage to the rhythm that brought this song to life.”
The song went through several transformations with Holland eventually bringing in his proteges – New York-based pianist Amber Noelle Mitchell and Texas-based producer DaValle “Groove” Shereef – to strike the perfect chords along with executive producer Tony Prendatt, a Grammy® Award winning engineer, who was also involved in finalizing the track. “More work went into that song than any song on the album,” he says. “And all the work was worth it. I think it’s a classic.”
SURVIVOR Tracklist
- iLike Moonlight
- Legs (Keep Dancing)
- BOP! ft. Trixie Mattel, LION BABE
- Survivor
- La Costa
- Vuelve ft. Romero Lumbambo, Roger Squitero, Marissa Lacata, Missael Mañon, & Anthony Almonte
- Junk Man
- Zaz Zuh Zaz ft. Wynton Marsalis
- Come Dance with Me
- On The Other Side of The Tracks
- Here’s to You
- I See You
- Being Good Isn’t Good Enough
- Come Dance with Me 808 BEACH Juke Box Mix
ABOUT VANESSA WILLIAMS
Vanessa Williams is one of the most respected and multi-faceted performers in the entertainment industry today, selling millions of records worldwide. Her work in music, film, television, and the Broadway stage has been recognized with 4 Emmy nominations, 11 Grammy nominations, a Tony nomination, 3 SAG award nominations and 7 NAACP Image Awards. Her platinum single, “Colors of the Wind,” from Disney’s “Pocahontas,” won the Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe for Best Original Song. Her 2012 autobiography, You Have No Idea, co-written with her mother Helen Williams, was a N.Y. Times Best Seller and she released Bubble Kisses, her first picture book for children, in 2020. In 2022, Vanessa starred in the World Premiere of Selina Fillinger’s new Broadway comedy, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, directed by Tony Award-winner Susan Stroman, and she is one of the producers of A Wonderful World, a new musical about Louis Armstrong, which will open on Broadway this Fall. Last year, she returned for a second season as part of the star-studded panel of judges for RuPaul’s Paramount+ competition series, Queen of the Universe. She will the star in The Devil Wears Prada, playing the iconic role of Miranda Priestley in a new musical based on the blockbuster film and bestselling novel with music by Elton John, lyrics by Shaina Taub, directed by three-time Tony winner Jerry Mitchell. The production will play an exclusive preview engagement this Summer in Plymouth before opening in London’s West End in October. Vanessa released her much-anticipated debut singles, “Legs (Keep Dancing)” in April and “BOP!” in July, from her first Pop album in 15 years, Survivor, which will be out August 23 via Mellian Music / Mod Squad, LLC.
