Sun Ra Arkestra has announced a return to the studio for its first album in over 20 years. Additionally, the avant garde jazz group formed in the 1950’s by the late Sun Ra, who died in 1993, has shared the untitled album’s first single, “Seductive Fantasy”.
This record, set for release later this year, marks the Arkestra’s first studio release since 1999’s Song for the Sun. The band has remained active in the years since then with a consistent touring schedule that has seen the group open for Solange on her 2017 tour. The band last performed in 2019 when they held a three-night residency at the Hollywood Theater in Portland, OR.
The rendition of “Seductive Fantasy” released on Tuesday is actually a reimagining of a piece that originally appeared on the 1979 album, On Jupiter. The associating music video is as abstract and daring as the song itself, with animations by Chad Van Gaalen. The song is anchored by a hypnotic baritone saxophone phrase that sees the rest of the band come in and construct the song around it. Before long, the entire Arkestra is represented as the, at times, the chaotic clashing of sounds breaks new sonic ground on a composition over 40 years old.
Watch the animated video for the fresh take on “Seductive Fantasy” from Sun Ra Arkestra below.
Sun Ra Arkestra — “Seductive Fantasy”
[Video: Strut Records]
[H/T Rolling Stone]