Brooklyn Funk Essentials - Black Butterfly

‘Black Butterfly’ (March 25th), is the title track from Brooklyn Funk Essentials upcoming eighth studio album. Previous singles ‘Never Give Up’, ‘Bust The Bus Stop’ and ‘Life During Wartime’ were playlisted on BBC Radio 2 and Jazz FM and supported by Craig Charles and Cerys Matthews at 6 Music as well as many stations across Europe and the Americas. ‘Black Butterfly’ was written and produced by bassist Lati Kronlund and features Alison Limerick, Ebba Åsman and Jessica Pina on vocals.

Kronlund explains, ‘The song that would become ‘Black Butterfly’ started o as the soundtrack of a dream. In the dream, I was trying to find my way in an unknown and barren landscape. I woke up and the song was still playing in my head. I got up and recorded the idea onto my phone so as not to forget it. I even had most of the lyrics then and there. I was reading Octavia Butler at the time, so perhaps the dream was inspired by that. It was a balad - not a funky song, but I thought I would see what BFE could do with it, since we were about to start recording a new album. I tried to stay true to the arrangement in the dream with vibraphone, brushes and bells. We nailed it in one take. Alison and Ebba sang the lyrics together and then we added Jéssica too. Like one universal girl carrying the future seed. A few weeks later I came upon this quote from Arundhati Roy, and I knew we were on the same page: “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. Maybe many of us won’t be here to greet her, but on a quiet day, if I listen very carefully, I can hear her breathing”.’

Kronlund and Limerick have been enjoying the recent renewed interest in ‘Where Love Lives’. Kronlund wrote and produced it for Limerick in 1990, it was remixed by Frankie Knuckles and David Morales and became a club classic and was featured in this year’s John Lewis Christmas TV Ad. Arthur Baker heard the original in a club in 1991 that he contacted Kronlund about working together and they then formed Brooklyn Funk Essentials.

Since their first release, on Dorado Records in 1993, Brooklyn Funk Essentials have built a devoted international following and surpassed 100 million streams. Fusing Soul, Hip Hop, Spoken Word, Jazz, Latin, and, of course, Funk, the band’s journey began experimenting with drum machines and loops in Baker’s Shakedown Sound Studio in Jersey City—hunting for that perfect beat. The early recordings featured greats such as Maceo Parker, Lenny Pickett, Tower of Power Horns, Michigan & Smiley, and Dizzy Gillespie, leading to the acclaimed debut ‘Cool & Steady & Easy’ (1994). Fast-forward to April 2024, when Kronlund reunited with Baker in Miami, rediscovering recordings featuring percussion prodigy Bashiri Johnson, which inspired new creative sparks for the next chapter of Brooklyn Funk Essentials.

The band’s acclaimed catalogue also includes ‘In The Buzzbag’ (1998), ‘Make Them Like It’ (2000), ‘Watcha Playin’ (2008), ‘Funk Ain’t Ova’ (2015), ‘Stay Good’ (2019) and ‘Intuition’ (2023). Alison Limerick has featured as lead singer and co-writer since 2018. The 2023 album ‘Intuition’ contained the hit singles ‘Scream’, ‘AA Side Single’ and ‘How Happy’.

The new album will be released on Dorado Records, a pioneering London-based independent label covering Soul, Jazz, Trip Hop, Drum & Bass, and UK Garage. Founded in 1992 by Ollie Buckwell and Charlie Lexton, the label is home to Brooklyn Funk Essentials, Jhelisa, Ebba Åsman, Sunship, D*Note, Natalie Walker, and Outside, among others.

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