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Artist News
The Roots to bring in orchestra for new concept album
By CMU Editorial | Published on Tuesday 7 June 2011
Hip hoppers The Roots are working on a “narrative concept album” which will see them move towards a more orchestral sound, ?uestlove has revealed.
Speaking to Billboard, the drummer said: “This is going to be our first fully-fledged narrative concept album. It’s going to be heavy on sort of orchestral chamber music with harder beats in it”.
This sound, he added, was inspired by a recent performance with French multi-instrumentalist Keren Ann and various other collaborators for the Philadelphia International Festival Of The Arts: “I did this project called the Philly-Paris Lockdown, [which centred on a] period of French music from Debussy to Satie and Stravinsky … it was almost like the dawning of jazz in the early 1900s”.
With just two rough songs for the album written, there is no firm release date for the album yet. ?uestlove said he was hoping it would be ready for a November release, but admitted it may be more realistic to expect it in early 2012.
