Multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Jon Batiste didn’t should reinvent his sonic wheel for his newest album, ‘World Music Radio’, however he did. The Louisiana native has been releasing albums since his 2005 debut, ‘Instances In New Orleans’, making dents on the high of US Jazz charts alongside the best way. He additionally spent seven years as music director and bandleader of The Late Present With Stephen Colbert, ending his celebrated tenure in 2022. That very same 12 months, his album ‘We Are’ which blended hip-hop, jazz and pop beneath uplifting lyrics highlighting the impression of Black tradition picked up 5 Grammys, together with the coveted Album Of The 12 months award. So why didn’t he head again into the studio, set to compose extra of the identical? The reply was impressed by one thing out of this world.
Because the Louisiana native just lately advised NME, the title ‘World Music Radio’ refers to a “radio frequency, broadcast throughout the universe and past”. It got here from an concept that piqued his curiosity, a information article a couple of super-transmission found in area. “Nobody knew the place it got here from or what it was broadcasting,” Batiste stated. “It’s completely different to some other transmission that’s ever been found.” The album performs out cinematically, with a primary character DJ guiding listeners by way of every music and collaborators taking up the position of different actors within the movie.
The expedition takes 21 tracks to finish, opening with a fast intro as a DJ known as “Billy Bob Bo Bob” tells listeners they’re about to take an aural journey around the globe. The primary cease is ‘Raindance’ which options Native American quartet Native Soul and begins with a sluggish effervescent bass line earlier than bursting into full bliss, with Batiste begging, “Give me love for the lifetime of me” over Afropop textures and glowing partitions of sound. It’s an ideal instance of his potential to not solely play by the foundations of the pop handbook however swerve into imaginative territory.
The fidgety ‘Drink Water’ options singer Jon Bellion, rapper Fireboy DML, and optimistic lyrics about taking a deep breath a high spiralling dance beats. However a direct pop music that dips into reggaeton beats isn’t sufficient for Batiste on this occasion, so in the direction of the top of the monitor, he enlists a choir to strengthen the repetitive request “take me to the river”, and it drives the cathartic mantra dwelling.
‘World Music Radio’’s method to common music additionally means tapping a variety of collaborators from a number of genres and locals. Fellow New Orleans native, rapper Lil Wayne, saxophonist Kenny G, Colombian singer Camilo and Okay-pop sensation NewJeans all take their second on the mic. The album is an bold feat in sound and scope however brisk featureless tracks just like the synth-laden and soulful ‘Calling Your Identify’ or the uncommon stripped-back piano ballad ‘Butterfly’ make the jaunt fly by.
The journey ends with ‘Life Lesson’, as Batiste advises “Don’t second guess your self” over crisp piano keys, proper earlier than frequent collaborator Lana Del Rey‘s vocals add a heat layer and a level of gravitas to the music as she muses, “You’re pleased till you’re not/ You’re icy till sizzling”, their phrases coming because the strings crawl upward earlier than falling away inserting the duo’s vocals on full show. The monitor is a sprawling and heartbreaking retelling of the predestined demise of a relationship with key preparations that go rogue earlier than the lyrics land on a remaining “Amen”.
In Batiste’s personal phrases, “World tradition and in style tradition have grow to be synonymous with one another”. ‘World Music Radio’ is the sonic manifestation of that perception, an expansive ode to human ingenuity and the boundless potential of music to foster connection.
Particulars
- Launch date: August 18
- File label: Verve Information/Interscope Information
