DRAMA Announce Debut Album DANCE WITHOUT ME

DRAMA is the multicultural collaboration between producer Na'el Shehade's chic Chicago house-infused production style, and vocalist Via Rosa whose soulful delivery is inspired by the improvisational nature of jazz and playful patterns of hip-hop and bossa nova. The duo play to the complementary dynamics of their unlikely pairing by blurring the lines between R&B and dance-pop, heartbreak and bliss. The pair just announced their full-length debut album Dance Without Me, out February 14 via Ghostly International. The album is a refined collection that recasts romantic tragedy as moonlit self-acceptance, as heard on recent track "Hold On"--released in advance of their recent fall tour with SG Lewis--and new single "Gimme Gimme" which was shared today. The pair has also announced extensive North American, UK & European headline tour dates (see below).

The Chicago-based pair's debut album appears remarkably refined for a young band, with Rosa's lyrical candor creating expressionistic narratives about interpersonal intricacies all finessed for the club by Shehade. As a lyricist, Rosa takes her blues and makes them vibrant - rather than wallow alone, she sashays. "This album is dedicated to the people watching their friend's love-lives grow and happen around them, and not having anyone," notes Rosa. There is lush lovelorn affliction blended into the tracks on Dance Without Me. Pre-order the album here: https://drama.ffm.to/dancewithoutme.

On "Gimme Gimme," DRAMA continue to contrast vulnerability and self-reliance. Rosa pleads with herself ("broken heart, don't fail me now..."), searching for a sign that it is okay to love again, as Shehade accentuates Rosa's lovesick lyrics with sizzling synth lines and percussion spliced with vocal samples. "The idea was to have a conversation with my myself about what kind of man I'm looking for," notes Rosa. "In the chorus I repeat the line 'I need you to stand and deliver. Cause I need a man that's not gonna give me any any...' The end I purposely left blank so listeners could insert what they don't want from their next lover. Oddly enough the song was inspired by the closing scene in the movie Grease where Sandy sings to Danny 'You better shape up cause I need a man.' Only in my world, I'm Sandy, my heart is Danny and I'm telling my heart to shape up and give me what I want."

Rosa grew up in a musical household; her parents played in a reggae band and toured as a family, homeschooling Rosa into her early teens and limiting her listening primarily to Sade, oldies, Brazilian and Afrobeat music. She kept poetry journals and by high school started writing songs and making beats. After moving to Chicago in 2010, Rosa connected with THEMPeople, a collective at the center of the city's sprawling hip-hop scene. Meanwhile, Shehade inherited an entrepreneurial drive from his late father, who immigrated from Palestine to the United States in the 1970s to build a better life. Born in Chicago, Shehade fell in love with DJ culture as a kid and took up music production and engineering; his interest eventually led to professional opportunities, including early studio work with Chance the Rapper, Kanye West, and music projects for MTV and Bravo. Since a chance meeting in 2014 lead to the creation of DRAMA, the duo has bootstrapped a subtle rise on their own terms, self-releasing several EPs and mapping multiple tours with Midwestern grit.

DRAMA 2020 TOUR DATES

01.29 Manchester, UK @ Night and Day Cafe

01.30 London, UK @ Heaven

02.01 Paris, FR @ Le 1999

02.02 Brussels, BE @ Le Botanique (Witloof Bar)

02.04 Hamburg, DE @ Nochtwache

02.05 Cologne, DE @ Studio 672

02.06 Berlin, DE @ Kantine Am Berghain

02.07 Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso

02.26 Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar

02.27 San Diego, CA @ Music Box

02.28 Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room

02.29 Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom

03.04 San Francisco, CA @ The Independent

03.06 Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom

03.07 Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile

03.18 Detroit, MI @ Marble Bar

03.19 Toronto, ON @ Velvet Underground

03.20 Montréal, QC @ Le Ministère

03.21 Boston, MA @ Great Scott

03.26 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

03.27 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's

03.28 Washington, DC @ Union Stage

04.03 Chicago, IL @ Metro

04.28 Atlanta, GA @ Aisle 5

04.30 Dallas, TX @ Three Links

05.01 Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall

05.02 Austin, TX @ Barracuda

DANCE WITHOUT ME TRACKLIST

01. 7:04 AM

02. Years

03. Forever and a Day

04. Hold On

05. Gimme Gimme

06. Good For Nothing

07. People Like You

08.Days and Days

09. Lifetime

10. Nine One One

11. Dance Without Me