In 2020, with no opportunity to perform live, Shayna Steele, unconvinced that she would ever create another album, decided to finish her degree. At Berklee, Steele dug deep into music theory and started writing and composing with fellow students. While watching coverage of the George Floyd murder and ensuing social justice movement, Steele and frequent collaborator Kamilah Marshall composed “The Bloodline” with producer/arranger David Cook (Jennifer Hudson, Maren Morris, Shoshana Bean). The experience sparked her once again to reexamine her experiences and identity as a black woman.

“I didn’t want to add to the messages of anger and rage. There was enough of that out there. With ‘The Bloodline,’ I wanted to reclaim the joy of what it means to be black, but with a heaviness to the production. We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, all the things our ancestors did even though they were considered 3/5 of a person. The joy of black people when we get in a room together.”

The cathartic experience of writing brought hope – maybe she would make one more album. Working with Cook, Steele decided to “throw everything” at the endeavor. Gold Dust, a culmination of originals and incredibly reimagined covers from Ray Charles to Radiohead to Cole Porter, emerged, and “The Bloodline” became the first single.

Named for the rollicking, powerhouse Fleetwood Mac cover of “Gold Dust Woman” on the album, Gold Dust brought Steele back – not just to what she does, but to who she is.

A frenetic and powerful energy runs throughout Gold Dust, with Shayna Steele in peak vocal form. The album arrives on April 21; The second single, Gold Dust Woman, is out tomorrow.