Snarky Puppy return with new album Immigrance – first track preview

Much like their Grammy-winning 2016 set Culcha Vulcha, which broke with their previous albums that were recorded live with an audience present in the studio, Immigrance is also multi-tracked, this time with the band ensuring they retain some rough edges and raw-energy in the music.

Bandleader/composer Michael League has taken a far more direct approach to the writing, as can be heard on preview track ‘Xavi’, which features a percussion-heavy Afro-beat-fuelled groove and some typically climactic melodic surges. Explaining the idea behind the album’s title League said: “The idea here is that everything is fluid, that everything is always moving and that we’re all in a constant state of immigration. Obviously the album’s title is not without political undertones.” As well featuring many longtime band members, the record also includes three drummers – Jamison Ross, Jason ‘JT’ Thomas and Larnell Lewis – who all take separate sections of each tune to create exciting dynamic changes across the music.

Snarky Puppy will once again host the GroundUP Music Festival on Miami Beach, Florida on 8-10 February, with a line-up that see the band headline all three nights (performing songs from Immigrance live for the first time), as well as David Crosby, Andrew Bird, Tank and the Bangas, Lalah Hathaway, Richard Bona and more. This will be followed by a show at the Walt Disney Hall Concert Hall with the Los Angeles Philharmonic on 23 February, with the band kicking off their world tour in April. These dates will include European and UK shows, with a headline performance at the Love Supreme Jazz Festival in July, while the band are set to return to Europe and the UK in the autumn for more live shows.

– Mike Flynn

Take a first listen to ‘Xavi’ from Immigrance below – and click here for more info on the GroundUp Music Festival