As fans eagerly anticipate the arrival of Silk Sonic’s debut project, Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars have revealed the coveted album has been pushed back to January 2022.
In a Rolling Stone cover story, the two artists explained why An Evening with Silk Sonic has been delayed.
“We’re really in touch-up mode now,” Mars said. “We’ve got the bones of most of the album, so it’s really about touching up parts that need a little more…grease.”
Mars added that the duo want to release more songs in the interim because they “don’t want to be binge-watched” by releasing all their music at once. Fans have been living off the group’s two singles “Leave the Door Open” and “Skate,” but feverishly craving updates about the arrival of the full project.
.Paak explained that “why we put so much” into the album is because it’s the duo’s way of coping with the trials and tribulations they have both faced. It acts as a reminder of why music is so important to them, particularly with the work being born in the heart of the pandemic.
“We know it’s life or death for us, and we know what life and death means—we know what it’s like to be broke and to lose parents and to have parents that supported us and that battled addiction. We know what we’re up against, and this is all we have,” Anderson said.
Of the project’s intention to help people get swept up into pure fun and rhythm, Mars said, “We need to light up a stage, put the fear of God in anyone performing before us or after us, and bring so much joy to the people we’re in front of and the people listening. Especially in times like the time we’re in right now. For me? I know I wasn’t listening to any depressing music. We’re already in a weird spot—so to try to get in there? No! I want the escape!”
Though An Evening with Silk Sonic is intended as playful escapism, .Paak admitted he’s “not sure we would have done it if it wasn’t for the pandemic.” He went on, “It was tragic for so many people, but Bruno would have probably been on the road, me too—but we had to be here.”
For more—including a long stretch where the Silk Sonic perfectionists spend at least a half-hour fine-tuning a nine-second moment in a song—head to Rolling Stone.
