Love in the sky artwork
Source: Artist
Source: Artist
McClenney returns with a collection of intimate songs.
Grammy-award winning producer and songwriter Chris McClenney has a number of memorable credits under his belt, working with the likes of Khalid, H.E.R., DRAM, Smino, and more.
But he's also a talented singer himself, who has released a number of jams over the years — even before he was a producer. Now McClenney — he's dropped the Chris — has just released a new 5-track EP called I'm Not Here that we are happy to premiere.
The EP has a pretty cool story: the project was mostly produced by himself at Earth, Wind, & Fire's little known private studio in Los Angeles. Making things more interesting is how the album was recorded: almost everything was analog and performed live.
In an email, McClenney explained the importance of working in Earth, Wind, & Fire's old studio:
It's become my home for the past 7 months. It's a secret spot that very few people know about (also where these photographs were taken). In this studio other legends such as Quincy Jones, Fleetwood Mac, Dr. Dre, Snoop, Prince have all recorded. Prince's Paisley Park was designed after this place, and a few scenes from Purple Rain were actually shot in the building. Because of this, I believe there's a sincere story to be told about me stepping into this secret place and preserving their legacy and building my own.
Speaking about his own artistic goals, McClenney said:
I don't want to only be known as the "Khalid producer..." or "H.E.R. Producer." I've realized that I don't think people have known that I've been able to work on many other projects outside of my own and that's something I hope to change a bit, but not at the expense of my own music seeming secondary. I'm an artist first, and songwriter/producer for others second.
Stream I'm Not Here below.
