The dawn of greatness is upon us. The duo who conceived my favorite LP from 2011, Black Up, has announced, out of nowhere, their second foray into music-making with Shabazz Palaces' Lese Majesty. The news comes on the heels of an information overload in the form of album cover, tracklist, details, lead single, and pre-order bonuses. With their unique sound, Shabazz Palaces' are once again aiming at overtaking the rap community with their unorthodox sounds and flows. You can check out the lead single 'They Come In Gold' below, sporting Palaceer Lazaro's (formerly Butterfly of Digable Planets) classic flowing patterns, unique and creative upon himself, along with his typical dense lyrics to digest for weeks to come. The production, reminiscent of Black Up, is dark, experimental, and 'cool.' A beat switch, along with flow switch, occur halfway through to further keep heads nodding.
More interesting however is how the album's tracklist will be handled, splitting itself up over 7 suites and 18 tracks. Their details over the album's inspiration plays out like an interstellar concept album, not something unfathomably possible. In typical Shabazz fashion, the titles throughout are otherworldly, boisterous, and stylish. You can find the tracklist below.
Suite 1: The Phasing Shift
- 01 Dawn In Luxor
- 02 Forerunner Foray
- 03 They Come In Gold
Suite 2: Touch & Agree
- 04 Solemn Swears
- 05 Harem Aria
- 06 Noetic Noiromantics
- 07 The Ballad of Lt. Major Winnings
Suite 3: Palace War Council Meeting
- 08 Soundview
- 09 Ishmael
- 10 Down 155th in the MCM Snorkel
Suite 4: Pleasure Milieu
- 11 Divine of Form
- 12 #Cake
Suite 5: Federal Bureau Boys
- 13 Colluding Oligarchs
- 14 Suspicion of a Shape
Suite 6: High Climb To The Gallows
- 15 Mind Glitch Keytar Theme
- 16 Motion Sickness
Suite 7: Murkings On The Oxblood Starway
- 17 New Black Wave
- 18 Sonic Myth Map For the Trip Back
The duo also released a complex statement to the contents of the album. Verbose language, seemingly adding up to nothing, maintain the entirety of their message. The only thing's that certain is that it'll be weird, complex, and unique.
Herein bumps and soars Lese Majesty, the new sonic action of Shabazz Palaces. Honed and primal, chromed and primo. A unique and glorified offering into our ever-uniforming musical soundscape. Lese Majesty is a beatific war cry, born of a spell, acknowledging that sophistication and the instinctual are not at odds; Indeed an undoing of the lie of their disparate natures.
Lese Majesty is not a launching pad for the group’s fan base increasing propaganda. It is a series of astral suites of recorded happenings, shared. A dare to dive deep into Shabazz Palaces sounds, vibrations unfettered. A dope-hex thrown from the compartments that have artificially contained us all and hindered our sublime collusion.
These reveries were sent to Palaceer Lazaro and Fly Guy ‘Dai in the year of gun beat battles in excess; In a succession of days, whilst walking in dreams and in varied transcendental states....(every minute of every day is filled with observation and composition. In action). Songs are committed and gathered by robots at Protect and Exalt Labs, a Black Space in Seattle, Washington.
The visual features of Lese Majesty are resultant of the gleanings of fellow Constellationaire, Nep Sidhu.
The Black Constellation squads up, protects and exalts the messages within, and colludes accordingly. We thank you.
However, all this hype may be to much, as the album isn't due out until July 28th. Thankfully, listeners who pre-order the album will receive the 'ever-uniforming musical soundscape' a month early to enjoy, in all likelihood springing the leak for the rest of the interwebs to enjoy. Regardless of release, it's nice to have our experimental friends back in the game.
Check out their music video for Are you...Can you...Were you? below:
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