Furnished to Warner Bros. Records Inc.
Andra Day masterfully binds jazz and soul stylings of the past with contemporary sounds and concepts to build a transportive listening experience. The singer-songwriter, actress, and philanthropist has always had an unrestrained, wide-eyed approach to the way she moves through life. Her music feels like she has one foot in a nostalgic, bygone era and the other solidly in the present. This dualistic reaching back to her predecessors for inspiration while holding space for herself in the moment makes for a discography that sounds like a free fall into a plush bed of feelings. Day’s new Warner Records album, Cassandra, titled after her birth name, is her most personal body of work to date. On this project, the artist examines every iteration of love: lost, gained, rekindled, interpersonal, and with a higher power.
Cassandra is a full-blown examination of the way we interact through the different stages of love. “Maybe Next Time” sees Day coming to terms with the fact that her romantic interest will never measure up to her standards. On Cassandra, her ability to assess lies, deception, and love bombing and see a situation for what it is shines through. The album teaches as it entertains, providing an inside look at what it means to be in a relationship, be it toxic (“Probably”) or thrilling (“Chasing”).
Earnest soul revivalism was at the heart of Day’s debut full-length, 2015’s Grammy-nominated Cheers to the Fall, whose triple-Platinum single “Rise Up” was later organically adopted as a protest anthem. Next to that album, Cassandra feels warm and familiar yet refined in its sonic exploration. While Cheers highlighted Day’s penchant for showcasing her powerful vocals against a throwback soundscape, Cassandra plays like a more recent R&B vinyl record dusted off by careful hands.
Day’s ample experience as a singer-songwriter perfectly prepared her for a transition into acting. She starred as Billie Holiday in the Lee Daniels-directed 2021 biopic The United States vs. Billie Holiday, a role she was almost born to play; her stage name is inspired by Lady Day, Holiday’s nickname. Day went on to win a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture—Drama, making her only the second Black woman to do so. She was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, a high recognition for her first feature film. For her musical contributions to the movie, where she sang classics alongside original material, Day won a 2022 Grammy for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media.
While the role of Billie Holiday intimidated her in the beginning—she was initially too nervous to audition—Day’s background in the music industry illuminated the path that otherwise would have been darkened. “In music, leading up to the movie, it’s just been a constant process of saying yes to things that I’m scared of,” she says. “Then something bigger will come up. I’m like, ‘I want to run away,’ but I’m like, ‘OK, say yes and show up.’” Day immersed herself in the role, picking up many of Holiday’s habits, such as drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, and swearing. By giving herself permission to transform into one of music’s most enduring figures, Andra Day tapped into a creative passion that had been lying in wait.
Born Cassandra Batie in Seattle, Day grew up with her three siblings in San Diego. She remembers hearing soul and R&B greats like Luther Vandross and Stevie Wonder at home, and belting out Whitney Houston ballads at age six for anyone who cared to listen. By age 11, Day had discovered the jazz giants who would come to inform her musical sensibilities: Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Thelonious Monk, and Charles Mingus. She attended the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts, which focused heavily on musical theater and allowed Day to expand her talents in roles like the protagonist Ti Moune in the coming-of-age play Once on This Island.
Eager to try her hand at writing and recording her own material, Day also performed in public, including singing at a strip mall. Stevie Wonder’s then-wife, Kai Millard Morris, saw a clip of Day performing and brought Day to Wonder’s attention. It was only a matter of time before Day landed a record deal with Warner Music, but her lifelong training and excitement for music had readied her for the moment. “The work has been, ‘How do I want to present myself on stage?’” she says. “And just, ‘Who am I as an artist and as an entertainer?’ Which changes from season to season. It’s been a combination of work and then just believing that it’s there—I’ve just got to find it.”
On Cassandra, Andra Day excavates her personal experiences and selflessly presents her findings to the world. She gives listeners an aerial view of her romantic slip-ups (“Bottom of the Bottle”), her deepest desires (“Where Do We Go”), and her moments of clarity (“Heavy on My Mind”). “Empty” features Day singing stoically about needing to focus on self-love and fill her own cup before serving others. Cassandra feels like a healing process throughout. Day’s duality stems from her ability to share intimate details in the present while finding time to revisit the eras that shaped her. She’s a walking example of exploring the value in life’s contrasts.
Day’s appreciation for love in all of its forms is powered by her unswerving belief in God. In addition to looking to a higher power for guidance in her career, she is driven to help others through her faith. As a philanthropist, Day supports organizations like Faith Moves Only, which provides housing to homeless mothers. “I’m always trying to look into, ‘Where can we serve? How can we help? How can we build?’” Day says. “Everything is not for everybody, and everything’s not for me. But when I’m praying about things and I get a specific calling to do something, then I try to listen to that. I really believe that this organization was brought into my life at this point for a reason.”
Overall, Day sees her career as a part of her greater journey, and it shifts and changes according to her needs and the needs of those around her. With big opportunities on the horizon, including additional film work and a coveted opportunity to sing at the 2024 Super Bowl, Day continues to be inspired by the path of Christ. She aspires to bring others to God through her work. “The greatest outcome of my life is that people encounter the Spirit and they encounter God when they encounter me,” Day says. “Whatever I’m doing, whether it’s in my work, in the things that I produce, in the music, in the movies, in relationships, in my triumphs, in my mistakes, in my falls, in how I get back up—that people encounter God when they encounter me, wherever I end up in life.”