Listen: BLOOD/LOVE Releases Opening Number 'Covenant I'

“Covenant I," a new single from the vampire pop opera BLOOD/LOVE, is now available via Joy Machine Records. The track serves as the opening number for the musical, which is now in performances at Theater 555 in New York City. Listen to it below. 

Co-written by Carey Renee Sharpe and Dru DeCaro (GRAMMY-nominated producer) and performed by Malik Bilbrew, Nya, and Erika Zade, the song opens with a chorus reminiscent of traditional vampire gothic tones that bleed into a section of violin strings to close out the song. The musical number introduces the listeners to the origin story of the main character, Valerie, and foreshadows the tension, romance, and stakes of the show’s world. 

"Covenant I is the opening number of Blood/Love and sets the tone for the audience to enter our sonic landscape, which blends and blurs genres between classical, rock & pop music with some more traditional musical theater storytelling elements,” said Sharpe.  “This number is one of those more narrative songs in the show and portrays Valerie's desire to leave her beloved Devil in Hell and venture to the light in the world above." 

“What better way to introduce our show than with a binding, irrevocable, eternal contract?! Some of the numbers in Blood/Love are operatic showstoppers, some are crowd pleasers, rocking romps, or heartbreak ballads. There are more than a few bangers (we like to think) woven into our little tale of the dawn of the Vampire. "Covenant I", for its part, comes out swinging. It is spooky, it is romantic, it is a dark & dusky foreshadow of things to come. And from that first majestic note, you'll know you are in the diabolical clutches of Blood/Love,” said DeCaro. 

BLOOD/LOVE centers on Valerie Bloodlove, the world’s first vampire, who has ruled the night for a thousand years. Set within a nightclub called The Crimson, the musical follows her search for meaning beyond immortality when she encounters a mortal with secrets of his own.

Directed by Hunter Bird (Masquerade), Blood/Love is a new original musical written by Carey Renee Sharpe and Grammy nominee Dru DeCaro. Choreography is by Jonathan Platero & Oksana Platero (“Dancing with the Stars,” “So You Think You Can Dance”), and Natalie Malotke.

The new original musical Blood/Love's full cast includes Carey Renee Sharpe, Christopher M. Ramirez, Brooke Simpson, Zephaniah Wages, Andrew Avila, Malik Bilbrew, Nya, Jonathan Platero, Oksana Platero, Erika Zade, Tre’ Booker, Kailin Brown, Victoria Byrd, Coleman Cummings, Marcquet Hill, Ava Noble, Morgan Reilly, Aliya Rose, Taylor Marie Scott, and Jazz Washington.

Photo credit: Matthew Murphy