Bleep

Widely regarded as one of the UK’s most influential musicians and a defining figure in contemporary British culture, Shabaka announces his new solo album, Of The Earth, which is released on March 6th 2026 on the newly formed Shabaka Records. Two tracks - “A Future Untold” and “Marwa the Mountain” - are released today.

Written, performed, produced, and mixed entirely by Shabaka, Of The Earth marks a pivotal moment in the British bandleader and multi-instrumentalist’s artistic evolution. Where previous album ‘Perceive its Beauty, Acknowledge its Grace’ represented a withdrawal from familiar forms and a turn toward flutes, stillness, and collective exploration, Of The Earth is an album of integration and embodiment. It establishes Shabaka as a singular instrumentalist-producer, synthesising the dance-driven propulsion of his groups Sons of Kemet and The Comet Is Coming with the textural, breath-led language of his recent solo work.

Shabaka says:

“D’Angelo’s Brown Sugar was the first CD I bought, and it sparked a lasting curiosity about the emotional possibilities allowed by the self-produced and performed album. This record is my celebration of freedom in creative self-expression. Before the pandemic I could only play the clarinet and saxophone and knew nothing about music production - or how to play the flute - so this has been a journey of learning, and a reflection on the music that’s emerged as a result.”

Much of the album was created while travelling, using portable instruments and production tools. Beats and looping rhythmic structures form the foundation for expansive choral melodies performed primarily on alto flute, alongside saxophone. Sequences of electronic rhythm trace a story of diasporic movement - music shaped by motion, memory, and physical presence. For the first time in his recorded output, Shabaka also raps. Inspired by André 3000’s fearless experimentation, and informed by a childhood spent practicing instruments over hip hop beats, his voice emerges not as a genre pivot but as another extension of breath, rhythm and phrasing within the album’s ecosystem.

Following his return to the saxophone at Louis Moholo’s memorial concert in mid-2025, Of The Earth captures the sound of an artist re-encountering an instrument with renewed clarity. Years of flute study - spanning traditions from Japan, the Americas, and beyond - reshaped Shabaka’s understanding of resonance, breath, and form, fundamentally altering his relationship with melody and flow upon returning to the saxophone.

Over the past decade, Shabaka has reshaped global perceptions of British jazz and experimental music, moving freely between jazz, electronic, spiritual, and diasporic traditions. Of The Earth stands as both a culmination and a grounding - self-authored, deeply embodied, and unconcerned with category - pointing toward a future defined not by genre, but by intent.