In her boldest work yet, Sabrina Stoneworker releases Velvet Discipline 1817. It is a Sapphic political thriller disguised as a dance record. With its speculative-fiction narrative, the album blurs the line between history and fantasy: Sabrina is cast as an agent of the Freemasons, dispatched to seduce a Black American revolutionary leader, testing whether love, desire, and power can coexist in an age that dreams of egalitarian freedom.
The concept feels cinematic in scope. Drawing from the eerie restraint and grandeur of Stanley Kubrick's 1970s soundtracks, Velvet Discipline 1817 weaves in haunting interludes and visual cues that situate the listener inside a secret history that never was. Yet, the music is resolutely present-tense. The R&B-infused house grooves pulse beneath every track, making this meditation on seduction, revolution, and control as danceable as it is unsettling.
This album is available in major streaming platforms, such as Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, Tidal, Amazon Music, Deezer and QQ.Â
Listen to the album: https://push.fm/fl/7z24IS66
The Tracklist as a Story
The album opens with Preamble to the Velvet Discipline (featuring Michael Wenas), a spoken-word invocation layered over a hypnotic bassline. From there, the narrative quickly plunges into the irresistible funk of Sugar on the Run and the darkly ironic Jealousy is a Virtue.
Midway, the cinematic Blush Coup crescendos into Velvet Discipline 1817, the record's central thesis: a lush, sinister dance anthem that asks if intimacy can be weaponized. Collaborations deepen the tension: Committee of Two with Angelica Atlanta stages a hushed negotiation between lovers and rivals, while Ministry of Looks with Murder for Higher turns paranoia into a catwalk-ready banger.
The intermissions, produced with both Michael Wenas and AstroBeatz, function like Kubrickian scene breaks. They're eerie, clinical, and essential to the pacing. By the time the album closes with Velvet Discipline 2049, Sabrina has transported listeners into a speculative near-future, echoing the cautionary tale: that even in utopia, elites will still try to choreograph desire.
Dance, Seduction, and Surveillance
On its surface, Velvet Discipline 1817 is a club record. It's slick, addictive, and dripping with hooks. But beneath the glittering production lies a sharp critique. Sabrina Stoneworker questions what happens when intimacy itself becomes a battleground, when seduction is less about attraction than manipulation.
It's a daring fusion: house beats for the body, Kubrick's shadowy atmospherics for the mind, and a speculative storyline that leaves listeners questioning the politics of desire.
With this record, Sabrina Stoneworker doesn't just offer music; she delivers an allegory for how power courts pleasure, and how even the most velvet touch can discipline.
