Grant Kwiecinski, better known as GRiZ – the master of the unprotected sax – has announced the release date for his new album to drop, and it’s close!
Shaping up to be yet another future funk showstopper from the 24-year old Detroit-based producer, Say It Loud, the follow up to 2013’s electro-funk tour-de-force Rebel Era, will drop on March 31. The album, an obvious homage to one of GRiZ’s idols – James Brown – can be expected to be an R&B funk roller coaster if it’s anything like Brown’s slew of classics.
With only the force and respect that it takes to name an album after a James Brown masterpiece, one can be assured that Say It Loud will be awash with the classic GRiZ sound that he’s come to be known for. Prominent horn sections, wah-washed yet raunchy guitar fills, soulful vocals, and Kwiecinski’s signature sax blasts, all mixed in with a little twenty-first century bass mentality.
If the initial singles from the album and his performance at the Pandora Discovery Den at South by Southwest are any prediction of what’s left to come, Say It Loud will be a monumental record.
With 4 tracks from the album already released via SoundCloud, it’s easy to get an idea for Say It Loud’s tone and flavor.
Flamboyantly funky and energetically upbeat, the record is shaping up with the potential be one of 2015’s game-changers.
An extremely collaborative record, GRiZ teamed up with a vast range of artists and musicians from a wide scattering of today’s musical styles, promising some serious musical diversity while still remaining true to GRiZ’s funk soul roots.
Collaborators range from Colorado’s hydro-electro-funk trio SunSquabi, Chicago’s Manic Focus, Kansas City’s The Floozies, to New Orleans-based Dumpstaphunk’s Ivan Neville; and that’s only the beginning.
With nearly every track on the album featuring an outside musician, vocalist, or producer, we’re pumped to get a glimpse into the rest of the record’s eclectic sound.
Unfortunately, it looks like we’ll have to wait a few days to get the full experience. For those of your who are impatient, head on over to GRiZ’s SoundCloud for an initial taste of the album.
To describe these tracks in one word? HUGE.
Really, the sound is as massive as the goal; to fuse funk history and tradition and update it to its 21st century counterpart.
As GRiZ progresses throughout his career, it seems as if he’s changing things up and moving toward a more sax-based sound, mixing it in with more regularity than he has on previous albums. As far as we’re concerned, there isn’t a single complaint in that department. Whatever he’s doing, he just needs to keep it up. The man is simply on fire and he continues to prove it by pumping out some serious tunes.
What the glimpse into Say It Loud makes for is a classic blend of new and old; early 70’s funk done up in modern style; steady bass-driven grooves with that old-school organic feel.
The only thing left to do? Try and muster up some patience and slowly count down the days until March 31.
For more information on GRiZ upcoming album release and supporting tour, visit his official website by clicking here.
