Theophilus London dropped "Rio"--his new song with The Menahan Street Band--on us, right before heading out for his live set at the first weekend of Coachella.While there the singer and young style icon sat down for an on camera chat with Fuse TV, in which he revealed some details about his upcoming album, spoke about working with Peter Fox on a 90s-inspired dancehall track and the intense trip to Brazil ("I got chased by gangsters on the beach and got prepped up by all these crazy girls...") which is immortalized on "Rio." I'm such a fan of the track myself that I managed to get Theoph on the phone about the time he was rehearsing his live set last week to speak a little about how the making of the track came about and what it portends for the sound of the new album. Here are the salient points and quotes from both interviews:
- The album is finished or near-finished and is tentatively called Vibezz. According to Theophilus it's coming out :
"Definitely this year, in September."
- Vibezz features tracks made with Peter Fox and Thomas Brenneck from Menahan Street Band and Budos Band:
"I met Thomas Brenneck through Mark Ronson (Brenneck played on Amy Winehouse's classic Back To Black LP, among other Ronson-affiliated projects-ed.) and we made "Calypso Blues" and "No Particular One" together. When I got back from Brazil I knew I wanted to make a song about it, so I called him up and we wrote it together."
- At Coachella:
"I'm playing with a live band, I'll have 4 musicians on keys on stage with me. We were in the studio last night, doing rehearsals with Omar [Edwards]--he's Jay-Z's musical director--I’m really excited about it."
- The sound of Vibezz:
"It'll be more organic, more analog and progressive—it still has a club element but I would never make another record like my first record. That was a certain chapter in my life and my career and now this is the next evolution."
Watch the full Fuse TV interview below:
