Vulfpeck has begun the rollout of its upcoming sixth full-length studio album, Clarity of Cal, with the release of singles “Big Dipper”, “Matter of Time”, and “New Beastly”. While “Big Dipper” and “Matter of Time” show off the latest iteration of the evolving Vulf lineup and sound—a nine-piece band playing feel-good, harmony-filled pop-soul—”New Beastly” returns to the band’s minimalist funk roots for a stark, funky showcase of bassist Joe Dart‘s beastly pocket featuring the core Vulfpeck quartet of Dart, Jack Stratton, Theo Katzman, and Woody Goss.
Much like the original “Beastly” video, one of the first Vulfpeck in-studio clips to achieve viral success back in 2011, “New Beastly” puts a spotlight on the bass over simple accompaniment by Katzman on drums and Stratton on Rhodes. “New Beastly” also calls back to the original with Woody Goss on the (tastefully restrained) cowbell and injects a bit of token Vulf absurdity into the mix by greeting Goss’ every sparing cowbell hit with a roar of applause from the crowd—while giving virtually no crowd noise to Dart’s low-end acrobatics.
It’s like “Beastly”, but it’s new. You’re gonna love it. Below, watch the video for “New Beastly”and revisit the video for (old) “Beastly” for comparison.
Vulfpeck – “New Beastly” (Official Video) [2025]
Vulfpeck – “Beastly” (Official Video) [2011]
“New Beastly” follows “Big Dipper” and “Matter of Time” as the third track to be released from Vulfpeck’s forthcoming LP, Clarity of Cal, due out this year. While the new LP has not been introduced as a “live album,” all three of the tracks released so far have arrived alongside live performance videos. That’s not to say they sound “live,” necessarily—the clarity of the tracks dissuades that notion—but it is worth noting that the band previously indicated its intention to “[make] a record live … *in front of an audience … in September in California,” specifically during shows at Berkeley’s UC Theatre Taube Family Music Hall and Los Angeles’ Hollywood Palladium. If that’s what we’re hearing and seeing on the new tracks, it would certainly help explain the album’s title—as in [sound] Clarity of Cal[ifornia].
This wouldn’t be the first time the minds behind Vulfpeck used live shows to make a “studio” album. In 2023, Vulf offshoot The Fearless Flyers co-opted an eight-show live stint at New York’s iconic Blue Note Jazz Club as the recording sessions for a new “studio” EP, The Fearless Flyers IV. As Stratton, who was on hand to record the Flyers, told the crowd at one of those shows, “They’ve done one, two, three EPs, tonight we’re gonna attempt the fourth studio album! We are gonna attempt the fourth studio album live, in the studio of Blue Note. It’s a nice, dead room, we got great D.I.s coming off them, good drum mics… it sounds good. Tonight might be the night.”
Related: How Vulfpeck Offshoot The Fearless Flyers Found Creativity In Specificity [Interview]
Below, check out the video for the first two tracks from forthcoming 2025 Vulfpeck live album Clarity of Cal, “Big Dipper” and “Matter of Time”, featuring Stratton, Dart, Goss, and Katzman alongside auxiliary band members Antwaun Stanley, Cory Wong, Jacob Jeffries, Charles Jones, and Joey Dosik. Pre-order your copy of the first vinyl pressing of new Vulfpeck album Clarity of Cal here.
Vulfpeck will take the new material to the stage later this year with two high-profile live shows: one at Morrison, CO’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre on July 5th (sold out) and one at New York, NY’s Madison Square Garden on September 12th (on sale here).
Vulfpeck – “Big Dipper” & “Matter of Time” (Official Video)