Afro-funk outfit Antibalas have announced their next studio album, in addition to sharing the album’s first single and their touring plans for the coming year.
The band will release their follow-up to 2017’s Where the Gods Are in Peace with a studio effort to be titled, Fu Chronicles, due out February 7th, 2020 via Daptone Records. The announcement of their forthcoming project comes on the heels of the band’s extensive 20th-anniversary celebrations this past year.
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A statement on the album’s pre-sale page reads,
“On the new album, ‘Fu Chronicles,’ Amayo leads us through a thrilling sonic journey of kung fu meets Afrobeat, weaving together the strands of Edo and Yoruba cultural memory from Nigeria with his training and study in Chinese martial arts. Recorded in the Summer of 2018, over seventeen musicians and singers crammed into the storied Daptone House of Soul in Bushwick to record the massive body of work.”
The band shared the lead single to go with the announcement with an inspiring track titled, “Fight Am Finish”. The recording gradually opens up with a triumphant instrumental intro before singer Duke Amayo comes in with Spanish-sung lyrics and vitalizing calls to action when belting out, “Get ready to rumble!” The theme of rising up and calls to revolutionize take center stage throughout the song’s lyrics, which Antibalas founder/baritone saxophonist Martin Pern emphasizes in a statement to go with Tuesday’s announcement.
“The only constant, really, has been change. The country is both very different and at the same time more of its true self than ever,” Pern admits. “We’ve seen so much displacement, dashing of communities. Over these twenty years, our musical community has taken many licks but we are still holding it together and have a lot of creative energy to work with. I see this song ‘Fight Am Finish’ in particular as a testament to commitment, to seeing something through to the end.”
Listen to the band’s new single below.
Antibalas – “Fight Am Finish”
[Video: DaptoneRecords]
Antibalas’ 2020 winter/spring tour in support of their new album will begin on February 11th in San Luis Obispo, CA. The run of shows will make stops along the western U.S. and Canada before heading east come March, and even hitting a few midwest markets and eastern Canada before wrapping on April 17th in Philadelphia, PA.
Scroll down for the full listing of the band’s 2020 tour dates.
Tickets for the band’s new dates go on sale this Friday, November 22nd at 12 p.m. local. Head to Antibalas’ website for tickets and more info.
Antibalas 2020 Tour Dates
February 11 — The Siren — San Luis Obispo, CA
February 12 — Moe’s Alley — Santa Cruz, CA
February 13 — The Regent — Los Angeles, CA
February 14 — The Independent — San Francisco, CA
February 15 — The New Parish — Oakland, CA
February 16 — The Independent — San Francisco, CA
February 20 — Neptune Theatre — Seattle, WA
February 21 — Rickshaw Theater — Vancouver, BC
February 22 — PDX Jazz — Portland, OR
February 23 — The Olympic — Boise, ID
February 26 — Knotty Pine — Victor ID
February 27 — The Commonwealth Room — Salt Lake City, UT
February 28 — Washington’s — Fort Collins, CO
March 19 — The Sinclair — Boston, MA
March 20 — Brooklyn Bowl — Brooklyn, NY
March 21 — Brooklyn Bowl — Brooklyn, NY
March 26 — Terminal West — Atlanta, GA
March 27 — The Grey Eagle — Asheville, NC
March 28 — Cat’s Cradle — Carrboro, NC
April 3 — Sleeping Village — Chicago, IL
April 4 — SPACE — Evanston, IL
April 10 — Lee’s Palace — Toronto, ON
April 11 — Lee’s Palace — Toronto, ON
April 17 — Theatre of The Living Arts — Philadelphia, PA
Antibalas – Fu Chronicles
