butcher brown announces new album ‘letters from the atlantic’

Butcher Brown’s limitless musical range shows no boundaries by genre and time. The Virginia-bred collective announces their new album Letters From The Atlantic will release on March 28 via Concord Jazz, offering a seamless blend of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, soul, bossa nova and more. The new record moves toward an indie groove, featuring female guest artists Yaya Bey, Melanie Charles, Leanor Wolf, Mia Gladstone, Victoria Victoria, along with Nicholas Payton & Neal Francis. Today, Butcher Brown shares the new single and video “Ibiza,” which follows last month’s “Montrose Forest.”

Tapping into deep house music influences, “Ibiza” is a ubiquitous earworm that weaves a slick saxophone line through instrumental songscapes. “We recorded that joint with the idea of it tapping into something you’d hear in a dance club in New York or the UK. We’re all producers, so we’re thinking of the samples a DJ would find and chop up into a groove – but do it all live, no samples, reimagining it in our own way,” says Butcher Brown of the new single. “There was something magical about the recording of this song, cosmic is the only way to describe that feeling. The excitement and joy everyone felt listening back in the control room was a clear sign we should get this out to the world. We hope ‘Ibiza’ takes you somewhere warm and offers a level of comfort.”

Following the group’s critically acclaimed Solar Music (2023), Letters From The Atlantic takes listeners on a musical journey through destinations and influences from the Chesapeake Bay to New York, down the East Coast to Florida and overseas in Europe. “We want this full record to feel like you’re floating on a trip – it’s taking you on a journey, and you can determine what each song reminds you of. It’s a story of everything we listen to, capturing nostalgia for Virginia, the East Coast and overseas. We’re pulling sounds from across the Atlantic” says the band. “Seagulls” kicks off the record close to home, evoking peaceful vibes by the water on Virginia Beach. A song like “Unwind” feat. Melanie Charles is straight up Avenue C, Lower East Side in New York with those downtown feels. “Something New About You” with Neal Francis gets into yacht rock down in the Keys. Then “Hold You” gives a chill resonance, like you’re on a train in Europe on the other side of the ocean. Ending with “Infant Eyes” wraps up the journey with an instrumental stamp on the record that’s a homage to Wayne Shorter, giving him his flowers as a player and composer that the band looks up to.

Butcher Brown recorded Letters From The Atlantic with Alex De Jong at Spacebomb Studios in Richmond over the course of a few sessions last summer. The album draws from their collective love of disco, house music, Bossa, DnB (drum and bass), trip hop, drill and acid jazz. A strong female presence elevates a lot of the album this time around. Voices like Mia Gladstone, Victoria Victoria and Leanor Wolf bring a real harmony and chemistry to the new album.

The nuance is turned up on Letters From The Atlantic. Progressively through their studio albums, Butcher Brown is finding less potent ways to get their point across. Whereas Solar Music had angular edges and rougher drums, this album is more laid back, comfortable and intentional.

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