Last year, Jaga Jazzist looked back on 20 years with the box set '94-'14. Now, the Norwegian experimental jazz troupe are pressing forward with a new album called Starfire, which will be out on June 1 through Ninja Tune.
The album was made after the band's main songwriter Lars Horntveth moved to Los Angeles. Bandmates visited him to record bits and pieces in his apartment, and Horntveth eventually went to Oslo to finish the album in proper recording studios.
According to a press release, the results downplay Jaga's jazz leanings in favour of a studio-oriented approach that emphasizes electronics and member Marcus Forsgren's guitar playing. The band said in a statement, "The idea was that we thought about the songs as both the original song and a remix in one."
That's the album cover above and the five-song tracklist below (along with the group's tour schedule, which includes a couple of Canadian festival stops). The collection is available to pre-order here on vinyl, CD or digital download. On that same site, fans can listen to a 90-second sample of the celestial title track.
Starfire:
1. Starfire
2. Big City Music
3. Shinkansen
4. Oban
5. Prungen
Tour dates:
06/18 San Francisco, CA - The Independent
06/20 New York - Webster Hall
06/21 Washington, DC - Black Cat
06/22 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
06/23 Asheville, NC - New Mountain
06/24 Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
06/25 Rothbury, MI - Electric Forest
06/27 Calgary, AB - Sled Island
06/30 Ottawa, ON - Ottawa Jazz Festival
The album was made after the band's main songwriter Lars Horntveth moved to Los Angeles. Bandmates visited him to record bits and pieces in his apartment, and Horntveth eventually went to Oslo to finish the album in proper recording studios.
According to a press release, the results downplay Jaga's jazz leanings in favour of a studio-oriented approach that emphasizes electronics and member Marcus Forsgren's guitar playing. The band said in a statement, "The idea was that we thought about the songs as both the original song and a remix in one."
That's the album cover above and the five-song tracklist below (along with the group's tour schedule, which includes a couple of Canadian festival stops). The collection is available to pre-order here on vinyl, CD or digital download. On that same site, fans can listen to a 90-second sample of the celestial title track.
Starfire:
1. Starfire
2. Big City Music
3. Shinkansen
4. Oban
5. Prungen
Tour dates:
06/18 San Francisco, CA - The Independent
06/20 New York - Webster Hall
06/21 Washington, DC - Black Cat
06/22 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
06/23 Asheville, NC - New Mountain
06/24 Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
06/25 Rothbury, MI - Electric Forest
06/27 Calgary, AB - Sled Island
06/30 Ottawa, ON - Ottawa Jazz Festival