Today June 17, unstoppable New Zealand eight-piece The Black Seedsrelease their seventh album ‘LOVE & FIRE’‘, via Proville Records/Kartel Music Group in Europe and seminal New York City-based reggae label Easy Star Records – Stream Love & Fire’ Here. Watch Love & Fire lyric video Here.
This carefully crafted 10-track album is a “big slice of The Black Seeds’ love and musical heat,” says the band. Showcasing the band’s signature sound whilst reinforcing their commitment to progressive creativity. Described as a journey through “life as a human, struggles, heartache, determination, depression, expressions of love, sex, fun n funk”, the album effortlessly combines conscious lyrics with a sprinkle of melodic pop and heavy rhythms.
Featuring previously released singles, ‘It’s So Real’, ‘Bring the Sun’, year’s perfect summertime banger ‘Let The Sunshine Through’ and the most recent single ‘Game Over’ – which picked support from David Rodigan on his BBC Radio 1Xtra show – ‘LOVE & FIRE’ also include four new tracks that are set to hit just as hard.
Originally destined to be a classic band in the studio album. Love & Fire saw COVID lockdowns force the band to depart from their usual live jam recording approach instead adopting a hybrid virtual creative process. Multiple remote studios feeding into virtual writing, editing and mixing sessions saw the cumulative creative energies of the band brought together to create what is now Love & Fire.
opening track ‘Let The Sunshine Through’, is classic Black Seeds, positive summertime melodies coupled with a groovy rhythm and an undeniable hook. The album title track and focus track, ‘LOVE & FIRE’ is a winning combo of authentic keyboard and synthesizer tones coupled with a fat rhythm and a killer vocal. ‘Bring The Sun’ is an uptempo future funk vibe which sees The Black Seeds set out to further their quest to produce the perfect mix of reggae, funk,dub and afrobeat. ‘It’s so Real’, a raw funk filled track with a constantly evolving groove that weaves and tantalises to create an enticing labyrinth of rhythm and melody. The album closes out with the heavy reggae single ‘Game Over’, a classic reggae track that showcases the bands iconic sound while tackling the challenging subjects of adversity, depression and the daily domestic grind.
Overall ‘LOVE & FIRE’ is an album packed with bass heavy, sunshine reggae vibes tailored to the modern evolving world and is a further testament to why the Black Seeds have become a household name in their homeland New Zealand, and a favorite for festival-goers around the world.
THE BLACK SEEDS BIO
Long established as one of New Zealand’s finest bands and with a solid foothold in Europe and North America, The Black Seeds have carved out their reputation on the back of multi-platinum selling albums, and a masterful live show that has been filling dance floors across the globe for years. While firmly based in the island grooves that inspired the birth of the band over a decade ago, The Black Seeds’ sound casts a wide net, layering funk, soul, Afrobeat, and other eclectic elements over their dub/reggae foundations.
The Black Seeds released their debut album ‘Keep On Pushing’ in 2001, which despite a minimal marketing budget, went on to reach platinum sales in New Zealand. The second album, 2004’s ‘On the Sun’, added a heavy dose of funk and soul to their dub reggae sound. Third album ‘Into The Dojo’, signaled the beginning of the band’s introduction to the rest of the world. 2008’s follow up’Solid Ground’ and 2012’s ‘Dust And Dirt’ continued to build the band’s global following after they were successfully released through trailblazing North American label Easy Star Records. Easy Star subsequently re-released the entire catalog from the band in North America.
Consistent touring throughout Europe, North and South America has led to over 60 million Spotify streams since 2015, and their tracks have found placements on cable classics ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Weeds’, as well on the big screen in movies like ‘Eight Below ‘ and ‘The Inbetweeners II’. 2017 saw the band continuing to push the boundaries of reggae with the release of their progressive 6th studio album ‘Fabric‘, featuring new guitarist Ned Ngatae and Francis Harawira on bass. The album, which included the popular single ”Better Days”, reached the #3 spot on the Billboard Reggae Charts & NZ Album Charts, number #3 on the UK & German iTunes Reggae Charts, and was described by Clash Magazine as “a broad, vastly creative return..matching low-end weight against some mature, soulful songwriting.”
Consistent touring throughout Europe, North and South America has led to over 90 million Spotify streams since 2015, as well as placings on the US Billboard Reggae chart, and the iTunes Reggae Charts in the United Kingdom and Germany. Their tracks have found placements on cable classics ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Weeds’, as well on the big screen in movies like ‘Eight Below’ and ‘The Inbetweeners II’. Highlights from two decades of international press have included The Huffington Post describing their sound as “thick, bottom-heavy, and melodic,” and Clash Music deeming them “one of the best live reggae acts on the planet”.
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