Kandace Springs Reimagines Billie Holiday’s Lady in Satin with Orchestral Elegance

Lady in Satin, Kandace Springs’ fifth studio project, finds the Nashville-born vocalist delivering a radiant tribute to Billie Holiday. This 12-track set honors Holiday’s legendary 1958 Lady in Satin while offering a fresh, elegant reinterpretation.

Springs is accompanied throughout by the 60-member Orquestra Clássica de Espinho from Portugal, who provide a refined and emotive backdrop—an ideal sonic canvas for revisiting the legacy of Holiday, a towering figure in vocal jazz and Black American music. The album is due May 9, 2025, via SRP Records.

The artwork echoes the original: where Holiday looked to the side, Springs faces forward, donning the singer’s signature white gardenia. Yet this is no impersonation. “Billie is a huge part of who I am musically,” Springs explains, “but mimicking her would feel wrong.” To make the material her own, she immersed herself in instrumental takes of the songs: “That gave me space to find my voice in them.”

Widely seen as Holiday’s final triumph, Lady in Satin was the last album released before her death (1959’s Last Recording followed posthumously). Critics have lauded its poignancy—AllMusic called it “high art from a woman who lived through deep hardship.” Rolling Stone placed it at No. 317 in its 2020 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Springs tackles the record with grace and credibility. Mentored by Prince—who once described her voice as capable of “melting snow”—she's carved out her own acclaim. The Guardian praised her 2016 debut Soul Eyes for its innate soulfulness. That was followed by 2018’s genre-spanning Indigo and 2020’s The Women Who Raised Me, her salute to iconic female jazz singers.

After the pandemic-induced introspection, Springs released Run Your Race in 2024, a deeply personal album dedicated to her late father. Paris Move called it “a significant artistic evolution.” That journey naturally led to Lady in Satin.

“I’d always dreamed of recording a tribute to Billie with a full orchestra,” Springs recalls. When introduced to the Orquestra, she discovered they were seeking a similar collaboration. “The moment we connected, it felt meant to be.”

Over the course of a year, the team curated lush arrangements. Top arrangers—Nuno Peixoto de Pinho, Carlos Azevedo, William Goodchild, among others—crafted rich orchestrations. “The first time I sang with them, I was floored,” Springs says. “Even now, it’s hard to believe how magical it sounds.”

The album begins with “You’ve Changed,” the first track recorded with the Orquestra. “I was nervous that day,” she admits, “but once they began playing, it felt like a dream realized.”

Next is a simmering “You Don’t Know What Love Is.” Springs then moves through “For All We Know,” “I’m a Fool to Want You,” and “But Beautiful”—each performed with interpretive depth and emotional clarity.

She brings warmth and originality to lesser-known selections like “For Heaven’s Sake” and “The End of a Love Affair,” and reinvigorates standards such as “It’s Easy to Remember” and “I’ll Be Around.”

Springs was especially moved by rediscovering songs that had faded from public consciousness, including “Violets for Your Furs” and “I Get Along Without You Very Well,” both given renewed attention through her heartfelt renditions.

The closing number, “Glad to Be Unhappy,” encapsulates the album’s blend of classical textures—harps, French horns, timpani—with timeless sentiment. “I’ve worked with big bands before,” Springs reflects, “but nothing compares to being enveloped by this kind of sound. It was unforgettable.”

Now, that experience is ready to be shared with the world.

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Tracklist

1. You’ve Changed

2. You Don’t Know What Love Is

3. For All We Know

4. I’m a Fool to Want You

5. But Beautiful

6. I’ll Be Around

7. For Heaven’s Sake

8. The End of a Love Affair

9. It’s Easy to Remember

10. Violets for Your Furs

11. I Get Along Without You Very Well

12. Glad to Be Unhappy