Singer-songwriter Dawn Richard and multi-instrumentalist Spencer Zahn reunite for their second collaborative album, Quiet in a World Full of Noise.
The album, released Oct. 4 via Merge Records, is the follow-up to Pigments. Where the latter album embraced movement — through dance, self-expression and community — Quiet in a World Full of Noise is grounded in stillness.
Across 12 calming tracks, Richard guides listeners on a mindful journey, allowing them to escape the stresses and strains of everyday life. The album’s title track
Richard’s gossamer vocals drift across Zahn’s ambient instrumentation as she ponders themes like everlasting love (“Stains”), looming grief (“Life in Numbers”) and cultural subtleties (“Traditions”). “You call it superstitions / I call it traditions / You call it lucky / I call it blessings,” she sings in the latter track.
A sense of renewal is felt throughout the album as Richard lets go of the old to make room for the new. On “Diets,” she cuts out bad habits, fake friends and people who no longer serve her. On the dreamy “To Remove,” where Richard coos, “I had to remove the waste.”
Speaking on the album’s title track, Richard exclusively tells Rated R&B, “‘Quiet in a World Full of Noise’ is one of those songs that feels deeply personal to me. In a world that never stops moving, where everyone’s vying for attention and the noise is constant, I wanted to create something that felt like a breath—like a moment to just be still.”
She adds, “Spencer’s minimalist soundscapes gave me the perfect canvas to reflect on what it means to find peace when everything around you is loud. It’s a song about carving out your own space, your own quiet, even when the world feels overwhelming. I hope listeners can feel that same sense of calm and find their own moments of quiet in the chaos.”
As indicated above, Quiet in a World Full of Noise arrives two years after Dawn Richard and Spencer Zahn’s first joint project, Pigments, released in 2022. “This album is what it means to be a dreamer and finally reach a place where you’ve decided to love the pigments that you have,” Richard explained.
Richard and Zahn started working on Quiet in a World Full of Noise in 2023. Zahn, who was fresh from a breakup, channeled that pain into instrumental compositions. “I wrote all these stream-of-consciousness pieces on piano, and they were eerie, spacious piano tracks,” he said.
Richard used her instrument of choice — her celestial voice — to unburden herself from past traumas. “I went into the studio—I did not write this down—and purged it out, and then I didn’t change anything after it. It was honestly the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” she shares.
“Our family has a distorted view of therapy; I’ve had to do a lot of healing on my own. So this was a moment of severe openness, sharing that moment with the world. But again, for some reason, when I work with Spencer, there’s a vulnerability that I tap into that I don’t do with anyone else. And I’m unafraid to try,” Richard concludes.
In other music news, Dawn Richard appears on Kaytranada‘s latest album, Timeless, on “Hold On.”
Stream Dawn Richard and Spencer Zahn’s Quiet in a World Full of Noise below.