Sludge metal act SUMAC and avant-jazz poet Moor Mother have announced a collaborative album, The Film, arriving April 25th via Thrill Jockey. The lead single/opening track “Scene 1” is out now and offers a first glimpse at the project.
According to the press release for the album, the track should be considered a fragment of a work “meant to be taken as a whole,” but does introduce the sonic characteristics of this intriguing collab between artists of seemingly disparate genres.
SUMAC — consisting of guitarist/songwriter Aaron Turner (ex-ISIS), drummer/synth player Nick Yacyshyn, and bassist Brian Cook — provide the musical backing, diving into the improvisational, free-jazz-esque playing that’s central to their excellent 2024 album The Healer and body of work in general.
Meanwhile, Moor Mother’s words were penned to SUMAC’s improvisational explorations, and both parties laid down their respective parts at Studio Litho with engineer/mixer Scott Evans. The results, based on “Scene 1,” can be compared to Moor Mother’s work with her own jazz project Irreversible Entanglements, albeit with the heavier backing of SUMAC. Moor Mother’s remix of SUMAC’s 2024 piece “World of Light” could also be seen as a trial run for the full LP collab.
You can pre-order The Film via Thrill Jockey. Stream “Scene 1” and see the album art and tracklist below.
The Film Artwork:
The Film Tracklist:
01. Scene 1
02. Scene 2: The Run
03. Hard Truth
04. Scene 3
05. Scene 4
06. Camera
07. The Truth is Out There
08. Scene 5: Breathing Fire