Overload
Like Nina Simone and Sun Ra, Georgia Anne Muldrow is one of those artists who manifests more as an attitude than a sound. She’s made hip-hop, she’s made soul, she’s made jazz (or something like it); she may have—through her guest spot on Erykah Badu’s 2008 track “Master Teacher”—helped warm the culture up to the word “woke.” Executive-produced in part by Flying Lotus (and released on his Brainfeeder label), *Overload* is easily one of the most concise albums of her career. It’s proof that while Muldrow’s presence (earthy but avant-garde) and range (generous, limitless?) remain her deepest philosophical offerings, she can squeeze herself into songs, too: the slanted hip-hop of the title track, the zero-gravity R&B of “Canadian Hillbilly,” the wonky ragtime of “These Are the Things I Really Like About You.” Lotus, yes, Solange, yes, Kendrick, yes—but *Overload*, too. In 2019, the album was nominated for a Grammy for Best Urban Contemporary Album, presumably because the culture has nowhere else to put it.
Georgia Anne Muldrow releases her new album - a modern soul classic in the making - titled “Overload” via Flying Lotus’s Brainfeeder record label. During her 12 year career she has earned the respect and admiration of listeners and peers alike via her incredible talent not only as a vocalist and songwriter spanning jazz, soul and hip-hop, but her long standing role as a producer and musician. “You’re my Jay Electronica… you take it there,” declares Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest. He is one of a long list of admirers including Mos Def (“She’s incredible. She’s like [Roberta] Flack, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, she’s something else.”), Erykah Badu, Dev Hynes aka Blood Orange (“She is one of my favourite musicians in the world”), Bilal and Robert Glasper who invited Georgia to perform on his “Miles Ahead” OST in 2016. “Music is my discipline. It’s my way of meditating, it’s my way of thanking God, it’s my way of communicating… It’s my way of life,” Georgia explains. Typically working alone, her new album flips that dynamic and takes Georgia out of her comfort zone for the first time since “Seeds” (2003) which was entirely produced by Madlib. “Overload” bears the fruits of numerous collaborations, most notably with duo Mike & Keys (50 Cent, Nipsey Hussle, Snoop Dogg, G-Eazy) who contribute production to four tracks including the sleek, anthemic title track - Pitchfork ‘Best New Track’ on 25 June 2018 - alongside Khalil (Dr Dre). “Overload [the album] is an experiment in restraint,” she explains. I pack myself into something as clear as possible with the help of gifted artists from all over the world. The live show is an experiment in interpretation. That's when [my band] The Righteous and I unpack into a joyful noise. Both of these dynamics have been striving to balance themselves within me since birth… since wanting to record anything. And by the grace of Patience, Discipline and Devotion, a sweet spot has started to appear.” Elsewhere Dutchman Moods and Manila’s Lustbass bring the slo-mo funk heat on ‘Aerosol’ and ‘Vital Transformation’ respectively, and Shana Jenson (Muldrow) and Georgia’s partner Dudley Perkins crop up on ‘You Can Always Count On Me’ (a cover of the Gap Band classic) and ‘These Are The Things I Like About You’. Flying Lotus, Aloe Blacc and Dudley Perkins share Executive Production credits on the album. Themes of Love, Spirituality, Self-Actualisation are woven into Georgia’s music, but she also does not shy away from politics and has been loudly and vigorously critical of the persistent state of inequality between Black and White in the US. Nowhere more directly than on ‘Blam’ - a song about self-defence. “I believe that it has the bones of spiritual song,” says Georgia. “It’s an updated negro spiritual in aesthetic”. Georgia was 17 when she began making beats in earnest, but first lit up the scene with her debut album “Olesi: Fragments Of An Earth” in 2006. It was at this time that Georgia met, befriended and collaborated with the likes of Madlib, Oh No, MED (fka Medaphoar), Wildchild, DJ Romes and her future partner Dudley Perkins aka Declaime. She co-founded the SomeOthaShip Connect record label with Dudley in 2008, the platform and springboard for many of her musical travels that have expanded and extended down myriad pathways. Georgia has collected many names over the years: Ms. One, Pattie Blingh & The Akebulan 5, an electro fusion collaboration with DJ Romes called Blackhouse and astral jazz outings as Jyoti - a Hindu name given to Georgia by her Aunt Radha’s friend Alice Coltrane (they attended the same ashram) and serendipitously Great Aunt to one Steven Ellison aka Flying Lotus. “She showed me so much love as a child. She knew I was going to work with synthesisers before I did,” laughs Georgia. It is fitting that a decade on in 2018, Georgia should sign to Brainfeeder - a record label deeply embedded in LA, with a ton of shared history, shared beliefs and a united vision of the future - to release her stunning new album “Overload”.
The restless avant-garde soul singer is still reinventing rhythm and blues for the future, now more than ever on the most pop-focused album of her prolific career.
Teleported from her SomeOthaShip home base to Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder, Georgia Anne Muldrow follows up the 2014-2015 releases Oligarchy Sucks and A Thoughtiverse Unmarred with her most varied and generous LP yet.
Overload is Georgia Anne Muldrow's 16th album, and first for the Brainfeeder label, after a two-year break that, given Muldrow's abundant pr...
Georgia Anne Muldrow is giving us some wise words on life on 'Overload', her new album on Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder label.