Today, bassist Pino Palladino and guitarist Blake Mills announce That Wasn’t A Dream, a new album out August 22 on New Deal / Impulse! Records – with a new track + video for “Taka.” Listen to “Taka” here and presave That Wasn’t A Dream here.

That Wasn’t A Dream is a statement of intent from two singular musicians. The Grammy-winning Palladino has reshaped what bass can be in popular music, performing with everyone from D’Angelo to Nine Inch Nails, from Erykah Badu to John Mayer. Meanwhile, Grammy-winner and two-time Producer of the Year-nominee Mills is one of today’s most sought-after producers and multi-instrumentalists, known for his work with Alabama Shakes, Bob Dylan, Fiona Apple, and Perfume Genius as well as his own acclaimed solo albums.

Pitchfork described the duo’s 2021 debut Notes With Attachments as “the sound of consummate collaborators imagining a world where there’s no such thing as a lead performer.” On That Wasn’t A Dream, they further dissolve any sense of hierarchy, imbuing their spontaneous compositions with an organic, precisely balanced inner logic. It’s quietly audacious, a radical application of their ever-evolving musical chemistry.

To accompany the album announcement, they’ve shared the video for lead single “Taka,” a progression of instrumental athletics and generous melodic gestures that builds towards an almost kaleidoscopic funk.

Watch the “Taka” video, directed by Justin Daashuur Hopkins, here.

That Wasn’t a Dream was recorded over a two-month period in the legendary Studio A at Sound City Studios, the room Mills has helmed since 2018. These sessions pulled in collaborators old and new, most notably Sam Gendel, who performed throughout Notes With Attachments and contributed finishing touches for nearly every track on That Wasn’t a Dream. Though ultimately, this record feels like a deepening of the core relationship between Palladino and Mills.

If Notes With Attachments was about creating cohesion out of layered spontaneity, That Wasn’t a Dream finds coherence through restraint. As Palladino explains, some of the compositions grew from harmonically dense ideas that were later reduced to the barest essentials. “It came to light, really, that if we could make something work with the least possible ingredients, space could become the centerpiece,” says Palladino.

It was also a chance to innovate; one early Palladino sketch, “What Is Wrong With You?,” was Mills’s first opportunity to experiment with the prototype of a new instrument, the fretless baritone sustainer guitar, which Mills helped luthier Duncan Price to develop in 2021, and has since been used on numerous productions, as well as live performances with Joni Mitchell.

“The fretless sustainer can sound almost like a cross between a woodwind, brass, and bowed string instrument,” says Mills. “It’s a tough instrument to control or define.” That undefinable sound, along with a playful approach to minimalism, set the tone for the rest of the album’s writing and recording sessions that would take place almost three years later.

As a result, the music on That Wasn’t A Dream goes from being deceptively intimate to beautifully disordered. It’s music that rewards close listening: subversive but naturalistic, harnessing chaos with intention, unveiling new forms of beauty all along the way.

Mills and Palladino will support That Wasn’t A Dream with live dates throughout the fall — see the full itinerary listed below.

LIVE DATES
Sunday, September 21st // Portland, OR // Aladdin Theater
Tuesday, September 23rd // Berkeley, CA // The Freight
Wednesday, September 24th // Big Sur, CA // Henry Miller Memorial Library
Friday, September 26th // Los Angeles, CA // The Ford
Friday, October 3rd // Brooklyn, NY // Pioneer Works
Tuesday, October 7th // Cardiff, UK // Gate Arts Centre Date
Wednesday, October 8th // Utrecht, NE // Hertz at Tivolivrendenburg
Thursday, October 9th // Brussels, BE // Centre For Fine Arts w/ ABRUPT Festival
Saturday, October 11th // Leipzig, DE // UT Connewitz w/ Leipzig Jazz Festival
Sunday, October 12th // Stockholm, SE // Hörsalen w/ Stockholm Jazz Festival