New Album "Foreverlution"
In Stores July 29th through Obese Records
Forever = At all times; always; eternally.
Evolution = The process of growth or development.
Foreverlution = The process of growth or development at all times and for eternity.
In stores July 29th through Obese Records, Blue Mnts come Newtown hip hop 3 piece Thundamentals have announced the impending release of their sophomore album Foreverlution, the eagerly anticipated follow up to their 2009 longplayer Sleeping On Your Style. With their own national album launch shows TBA and lead single Paint The Town Red already on triple j rotation, The Thunda's are hitting the road with Outkast's Big Boi to celebrate (full dates at footer).
Though their debut EP (late 2008) was awarded ozhiphop.com's 'Best EP of 08' award, it was Sleeping On Your Style (also released through Obese) that truly announced DJ Morgs, Jeswon and Tuka (aka Thundamentals) as a new tour de force on the Oz Hip Hop Scene. Both singles lifted from Sleeping On Your Style (Move It Up and The Mash) received high rotation on Triple J and the band began to pop up on 'acts to watch' (Rolling Stone Magazine) and 'next big thing' (The Sydney Morning Herald) lists everywhere.
The Mash was named iTunes 'Single Of The Week' and saw the band invited to record an exclusive live EP for fans and competition winners at Sydney iTunes store. 15 months after the release of the album, a veritable 'eon' in today's quick capture album cycle environment, the record was still gaining momentum with 4th single THUNDA added to MTV rotation and international supports and festival slot offer's continuing to roll in .
The summer of 2010 / 2011 alone saw them grace stages at Falls Festival, Peats Ridge, Good Vibes SYD, Changing Lanes Festival and Newtown Festival (headliner). Interspersed with their own national headline tours, over the past eighteen months Thundamentals have supported; A Tribe Called Quest (USA), Lyrics Born (USA), MF DOOM (USA), Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (USA), Drapht, Astronomy Class and many more.
FOREVERLUTION
Building upon Sleeping On Your Style's outstanding production, eclectic musical influences and compelling rhymes, Foreverlution is, as the title would suggest, a deliberate blend of timeless organic tones interspersed with more contemporary sounding influences. Producing almost the entire record, DJ Morgs has really stepped up-to the plate.
In the words of Tuka: "the content itself reflects our growth as a band and also the knowledge/skills we've managed to gather since our self-titled debut was released in 2008. In this life, it appears that change is the only constant. The one thing you can truly be sure of is that everything will eventually change. The ideology behind Foreverlution casts a positive spin on this concept. Rather than watching the world go by or letting yourself fall into a state of complacency, involve yourself within it. Learn from your past with the intention of moving forward and growing into a better version of yourself. As the world evolves, evolve with it."
. From the ominously dulcet foghorn that intro's opening track Holla through the big band enthused bombasticism of Calm In The Chaos, lead single Paint The Town Red and the Parisian swell of Check My Fresh (feat. Vida-Sunshyne), the first half of Foreverlution drips with 1920's speakeasy soul.
But though this and an old school RnB flavor permeate the record right through to the laid back Sunday afternoon slide of closing track Easy, contemporary influences also ride high throughout, from the future beat and blip electro splice of Dimension 3 through the rolling dubstep bass of Thunda Cats (feat. Dysphemic). All in All Foreverlution is, as best described by Jeswon: "a contrast between elements that will remain classic "Forever", and elements that suggest an "Evolution" into something greater and as yet undefined".
For the cover art for the album the band worked closely with their artist (Pencil Rebellion) to develop strong imagery that would further emphasise this Foreverlution concept. Namely, a thematic continuation of the young boy portrayed on the Sleeping On Your Style cover art who has now grown into a pioneer space traveler equipped with advanced technologies, armour and space craft, a visual metaphor for the growth in the music. The band were presented with two cover possibilities from the artist but as they couldn't decide, asked Facebook fans & Twitter followers to vote on which the preferred should be. The vote again went straight down the middle and hence the decision was made to run with a dual cover.
