BADBADNOTGOOD - Talk Memory

A psychedelic jazz record that explores balance and harmony through musical improvisation.

Alexander Sowinski (drums), Chester Hansen (bass) and Leland Whitty (guitar/woodwinds) have long proved themselves to be both skilled players and also deeply intuitive and adaptive collaborators, pioneering some of jazz, funk and rap’s most innovative partnerships. This new studio collection is all about aural odyssey and the power of spiritual collaborations, including contributions from iconic Brazilian producer and musician Arthur Verocai alongside Laraaji, Terrace Martin, Karriem Riggins and Brandee Younger. The album flows beautifully, like a cinematic soundtrack with moments of ambience and swelling strings adding beautiful counterweight to the driving, urgent and euphoric BADBADNOTGOOD sound. Some of the highlights of the band’s last few releases have been the appearance of guest vocalists (including singer-songwriter Charlotte Day Wilson, Future Islands frontman Samuel T. Herring, Kaytranada, MF DOOM, Tyler, The Creator, and Kendrick Lamar; and the full-length Sour Soul with Ghostface Killah), and Talk Memory is especially notable not only for the absence of human voice, but also that it is not missed. This is such expressive and conceptually rich music, rooted in spiritual jazz, their most emotional and human work yet. Born from collaborative improvisation, each track is compositionally refined, and also so full of life and energy.

A beautiful and thoroughly invigorating album.