Want more Andre 3000 flute vibes? Listen to these 9 albums from 2023.
There's a whole lot of flute where that came from.
Well, this wasn’t what any of us expected.
That’s the way the whole year has felt though, for better and for worse. The worst is obvious, constant, almost summoned. Finding any nugget of positivity or resolve feels like a fool’s prospect. We keep waiting for someone — a leader, a visionary — to guide us to a greater place.
Excuse me for sounding so vague. It’s just that I didn’t expect that someone to be André 3000, jumping down from the rafters with a whopping 87 minutes of flutes fiddling over breezy and lightweight synths.
By now you’ve probably heard everything you need to know about New Blue Sun and André’s newfound New Age freedom. The man himself cited ambient and spiritual jazz icons like Laraaji, Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders and Steve Reich (should’ve been Steve Roach) as inspirations. But you don’t have to go that far back to listen to music like it. Here are 9 albums also released this year that’ll give you all the transcendental, holistic, flute-ass vibes you desire.
Amor Muere - a time to love, a time to die / Titanic - Vidrio
These two records by different configurations of Mexico City musicians — both featuring cellist and vocalist Mabe Fratti — are like the antithesis of New Blue Sun. While the latter’s compositions are long and formless, Vidrio and a time to love, a time to die are rough and jagged, and occasionally bursting with intensity. They are similar in their pursuit of instrumental exploration and collective movement.
Miguel Atwood-Ferguson - Les Jardins Mystiques Vol. 1
While André 3000 was touring with Outkast, acting in movies (shouts out High Life) and giving out flawless verses to Erykah Badu and Frank Ocean, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson was dutifully crafting the sound to modern jazz, ambient and orchestral music. As a composer and instrumentalist, he’s collaborated with Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Hiatus Kaiyote to name a few. His debut album, Les Jardins Mystiques Vol. 1, is a 3.5-hour collection of film music, jazz ensembles, piano melodies and ambient interludes. Approach it like Alice did Wonderland.
Spencer Doran - SEASON: A letter to the future (Original Soundtrack)
Video games are no strangers to flutes. The medium houses some of the best and most iconic ambient and orchestral scores. Like New Blue Sun, Spencer Doran’s score for the open-adventure game SEASON: A letter to the future, gently flows in the direction of its protagonist. Given that the objective of the game is to capture and document a village threatened by an impending cataclysm, Doran’s score makes you yearn to connect with the natural world.
Read my full review of SEASON for Resident Advisor.
Laraaji - Segue to Infinity / Pauline Anna Strom - Plot Zero
Ambient music legend Laraaji may have the strongest influence on New Blue Sun. A reissue compilation by Numero Group, Segue to Infinity, showcases his lengthy and serene recordings on, among many instruments, flute. Finally, no list of mystical, trippy music is complete without mentioning the work of NYC label RVNG Intl. and their glorious archival releases. The label released Echoes, Spaces, Lines, a box set of synth odysseys by Pauline Anna Strom, who died in 2020. Plot Zero, one of the albums in the set, opens with a song called “Mushroom Trip”.
Lil B - Afrikantis
I’m not going to say that 3 Stacks stole Lil B’s whole flow. I’m not going to say that. What I will say is that maybe Afrikantis, his 72-minute collection of keyboard fantasies from late last year, isn’t as far-fetched an idea as the critics initially surmised. Lil B and André bring a certain Eyewitness Books, IMAX documentary vibe to these projects that recalls the tongue-in-cheek concoctions of the vaporwave era.
M. Sage - Paradise Crick
The beautiful thing about ambient music is that it can sound like any one of a million things. It’s all a matter of personal exploration. Matthew Sage, an electronic artist from Colorado’s Front Range, uses modular synths, flutes and harmonica to grow his little corner of bliss. Paradise Crick is a great companion listen to New Blue Sun that will slowly and kindly bring you back down to Earth.
Check out my interview with M. Sage from this summer.
Sven Wunder - Late Again
Like André, Swedish composer and musician Sven Wunder loves flute. (He told me so in an interview earlier this year.) Flute solos flutter all over the middle part of Late Again, a gorgeous album of vintage lounge, jazz and film music. If you were intrigued by New Blue Sun’s premise but found it difficult to grasp on to, Late Again may offer the structure and melody you’re looking for.