John Carroll Kirby shares “Mates” | New album “Blowout
JOHN CARROLL KIRBY
SHARES NEW SINGLE “MATES”
NEW ALBUM BLOWOUT, OUT 30TH JUNE VIA STONES THROW
NEW TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED
Photo credit: Sela Shiloni
Listen to “Mates”: https://sthrow.com/mates
Today, John Carroll Kirby releases the song “Mates”, taken from his new solo album Blowout, out June 30th. The albumwas inspired by a period in Costa Rica spent playing with local musicians and imagining “failed utopias”. Blowout teeters between two definitions of its title – a moment of destruction and one big party. In Costa Rica, Kirby contemplated episodes of collective madness or delusion, such as Fyre Festival and the Heaven’s Gate cult, imagining “a festival where everyone gets beamed up to utopia or heaven instead of starving or dying unfulfilled.” “Mates” is the ecstatic soundtrack to Kirby and friends rolling deep to the festival, and follows singles “Oropendola” and “Sun Go Down”.
Like charisma, a signature sound can’t be faked. Over six solo albums and dozens of collaborations, Kirby has finessed one recognisably his own, no matter what genre he’s working in. Once a dutiful student of ‘50s and ‘60s piano jazz, Kirby found a sound that felt true to him when he allowed spontaneity, improvisation and error into his playing: “I love a good ‘miss’ in music. Reverence is good for building a foundation, but you have to miss a bit for it to be truly your own.” With a stripped-down band accompanying him on Blowout, Kirby gives himself permission to miss, and so taps into something glorious and ineffable.
John Carroll Kirby on Tour:
June 28 San Francisco, CA The Chapel †
July 30 Niigata, JP Fuji Rock †
Aug 5 Shanghai YongFoo Elite †
Aug 18 Los Angeles, CA Lodge Room
Aug 24 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
Aug 26 Port Townsend, WA Thing Festival
Sep 13 Chicago, IL Sleeping Village
Sep 15 St Paul, MN Turf Club
† with Eddie Chacon
High-res artwork here.
1. Oropendola
2. Mates
3. The Takedown
4. Hotel Jonny Chingas
5. Vertigo
6. So So So
7. Sun Go Down
8. Gecko Sound
9. Flying Cat
10. Mates (Dub)
11. So So So (Dub)
12. Hotel Jonny Chingas (Dub)
About John Carroll Kirby
John Carroll Kirby is an artist, producer and composer from Los Angeles. Though Kirby’s background is steeped in jazz, his signature sound and keyboard playing blends genres and styles. An in-demand collaborator for artists ranging from superstars Solange, Frank Ocean and Harry Styles to indie musicians Yves Tumor, Connan Mockasin, Liv.e, and many more, Kirby has lately focused on his own solo output, releasing five LPs on Stones Throw in three years.
My Garden (2020), a blend of jazz and exotica, was praised by The Fader, LA Times, Q, and Mojo. The same year, Kirby released Conflict, a calming piano album in response to the year’s chaos. Following his first film score for the animated feature Cryptozoo, Kirby’s 2021 jazz-fusion release Septet marked a return to ensemble playing, while Dance Ancestral (2022), with additional production from Canadian artist YuSu, took a more electronic-forward approach.
Alongside these records, Kirby has released episodes of Kirby’s Gold, a web series inspired by Huell Howser’s California Gold. In the series, Kirby chats and improvises with artists ranging from painter Ariana Papademetropoulos to an Eastern European choir. Kirby recently received a Grammy nod for his work on Steve Lacy’s hit “Bad Habit”, and in March 2023, Stones Throw released Sundown, his album-length collaboration with “lowkey R&B legend” Eddie Chacon.