Ishmael Butler's Cosmic Soul Search on New Album

Ishmael Butler's Shabazz Palaces has released 'It's a Style Sport,' an album that turns inward to explore the cosmos within. The project delves into memory as a tool for understanding life's grand mysteries, drawing inspiration from Butler's personal history.

Unlike previous works that expanded outward, this album centers on introspection, with Butler's voice often receding into the mix. Collaborators like Erik Blood help foreground the dry drum machines, allowing other elements to weave in and out, creating subtle symphonies that reveal layers upon deeper listening.

Butler gathered members of the Shabazz and Digable Planets live bands to craft the album's soundscapes at Seattle's Hall of Justice studio. The resulting music features the smooth, silken wordplay characteristic of Butler's work, offering reflections on youth, resilience, and life's pivotal stages.

The album closes with "From One Future to Another," a dream-pop piece contemplating how age shifts perspective and the interconnectedness of past, present, and future. It serves as an ode to digging into one's roots to understand the present self.