Celebrating the upcoming release of their new studio album No Revenge Necessary on April 27, Nolatet frontman Mike Dillon remains optimistic as ever about the band’s future. Confident in their idiosyncratic style, the vibraphonist explained that “a year of touring and festivals has made this band of unique improvisers stand on an island beyond the normal jazz arms race.”
No strangers to iconoclasm, the quarter composed of Dillon, pianist Brian Haas, bassist James Singleton and drummer Johnny Vidacovich, released their first experimental studio album, Dogs, in 2016. Nolatet is signed onto the independent label Royal Potato Family, brainchild of fellow experimental artists Marco Benevento. Royal Potato Family serves as the backbone to a diverse range of talent, including electric blues singer Seth Walker, Americana ensemble American Babies, and California rock band Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real.
Their debut album Dogs came about almost by accident. Drummer Vidacovich said in a 2016 interview with Offbeat, “We all sat in a room with the piano wide open and we just played and that’s how the record got made.” Spontaneously arranged, they recorded the album all in one take, which Vidacovich described as totally unplanned. The positive reception that followed was something the bandmates never could have imagined. Since 2016, they’ve been relentlessly touring nationwide, naturally with a few New Orleans stops sprinkled throughout.
The Crescent City locals says listeners should expect a mix of “funky and ferocious” out of No Revenge Necessary, but with an underlying message. “For me the over-riding theme moving forward is forgiveness,” Singleton says. “Hopefully the strength of the music can serve as a reminder of the possibility of growth and healing through forgiving.”
Check out the first single and video from the album, “Black Sheep,” below. You can also find the song on streaming platforms.
No Revenge Necessary is now available for pre-order:
RPF (Vinyl & CD): bit.ly/Nolatet-NoRevengeNecessary
iTunes/AppleMusic (Digital): apple.co/2EAoIEn
Amazon: amzn.to/2EAqaqj
