Toni Braxton Previews ‘Spell My Name’ Album With New Single ‘Dance’

Toni Braxton attempts to spin and twirl her way through heartbreak on “Dance,” a shimmery slice of nu-disco co-written and produced by the R&B ace Antonio Dixon. The track will appear on the upcoming album Spell My Name, Braxton’s first new full-length since 2018’s Sex & Cigarettes. 

Braxton sets the scene quickly in the first two lines of “Dance:” “I found out just the other day/That you were giving it away.” She considers her options, quickly rejects reconciliation (“I ain’t tryin’ to make you stay”), and heads to the dance floor a few short lines later. The production stays crunchy, with a popping bass, darting strings, and shrill horns joining a thwacking drum. 

“Dance” follows “Do It,” a sweeping ballad the star released in April that was subsequently remixed by Missy Elliott. “Do It” climbed to Number Three on the latest R&B radio chart, according to Mediabase, earning 2,251 plays and reaching more than 11 million listeners.

The current radio chart-topper is Motown singer Kem’s “Lie to Me;” this week, Braxton also hopped on a duet with Kem titled “Live Out Your Love,” which channels classic Marvin Gaye ballads. Now the two singers’ album rollouts will unfold in parallel, since both plan to release new full-lengths on the same day next month — Spell My Name is due August 28.