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Yesterday, SBTRKT released a new song with Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend, and announced that his second album, Wonder Where We Land, was on the way. Last night, at Log Cabin Studios in New York, we got to hear the brilliant album in full with interesting commentary on each song from SBTRKT himself. He spoke about the importance of pushing yourself outside your comfort zone when making music, the inaccessible island where he recorded some of the songs with Sampha and Caroline Polachek, and how studious a writer A$AP Ferg is.
The record will certainly surprise some people—just like “NEW DORP. NEW YORK” did when it was premiered yesterday—but that is just a reflection SBTRKT’s artistic growth and unwillingness to be boxed in by people’s expectations. The whole album truly is excellent, and on first listen, the high points were the collaborations with two newer artists, Raury and Denai Moore.
On “Higher,” Raury (who, SBTRKT told us, “had to ask his mum for permission to come and record”) channels his inner Andre 3000 with blazing results, while the collaboration with Moore gave us the same buzz as the first time we heard SBTRKT and Sampha collaborating. Basically, you’re in for a massive treat.
We asked Denai Moore what it was like to work on the album and how it came about:
I am such a massive fan of the first SBTRKT album so it was a really surreal feeling being asked to be on the record. I just went to his flat and he played me some tracks that he had in mind for me, and the instrumental for “The Light” was the track that stuck out. I haven’t done many collabs like this before so I’m really excited about this track and I’m looking forward to playing it live with Aaron over the summer at some festivals.
Check out the star-studded tracklist below, and North American tour dates below that. Wonder Where We Land is out September 23 on Young Turks.
1. Day 1
2. Wonder Where We Land (feat. Sampha)
3. Lantern
4. Higher (feat. Raury)
5. Day 5
6. Look Away (feat. Caroline Polachek)
7. Osea (feat. Koreless)
8. Temporary View (feat. Sampha)
9. NEW DORP. NEW YORK (feat Ezra Koenig)
10. Everybody Knows
11. Problem (Solved) (feat. Jessie Ware’s)
12. If It Happens (feat. Sampha)
13. Gon Stay (feat. Sampha)
14. The Light (feat. Denai Moore)
15. Voices In My Head (feat. A$AP Ferg)
North America tour dates:
10/07/14 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
10/09/14 – New Orleans, LA @ Republic New Orleans
10/10/14 – Houston, TX @ House Of Blues
10/11/14 – Mexico City, MX @ Corona Capital Music Festival
10/12/14 – Dallas, TX @ House Of Blues
10/14/14 – Tempe, AZ @ The Marquee Theatre
10/15/14 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Belsaco Theater
10/16/14 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Belasco Theatre
10/17/14 – Oakland, CA @ The Fox
10/18/14 – Las Vegas, NV @ House Of Blues
10/20/14 – Denver, CO @ The Ogden
10/23/14 – Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre
10/24/14 – Cleveland, OH @ House Of Blues
10/25/14 – Washington, DC @ Lincoln Theatre
10/26/14 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5
10/29/14 – Boston, MA @ Royale
10/31/14 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall
11/01/14 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall