On top of collaborating with some of the biggest names in music like Solange, Frank Ocean, Harry Styles and others, Los Angeles-based producer, composer, arranger and pianist John Carroll Kirby has been also making a name for himself over the last several years as a solo artist, releasing a number highly-acclaimed records under his own name for the Stones Throw label. He continues this remarkable string of impressive output with a superb new album, titled Blowout.

Building off many of his most recent releases, this brilliant 12-track album fuses together spacey keyboards, head-nodding grooves and electronic beats, with some complimentary flute melodies and tropical exotic tones, resulting in a sound that blurs the lines between cosmic jazz and 80’s era Balearic.

Kirby wrote the majority of the record in 2021 while he was visiting and filming an episode of his Kirby’s Gold in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. Between 5am wake-up calls from oropendola birds and psychedelic sunsets, the music was inspired by the local people, music and nature — all with fun and positive outlook. He thought of episodes of collective madness or delusion, like Fyre Festival and the Heaven’s Gate cult and instead, according to him, used the idea of “a festival where everyone gets beamed up to utopia or heaven instead of starving or dying unfulfilled” as inspiration.

Blowout is superb from start to finish, with an overall sound that is uplifting, original, accessible, and yet still adventurous. Looking at it as a whole, you can make a strong argument that this might be Kirby’s best full-length recording to date. Highly recommended!

John Carroll Kirby — ‘Blowout’
(Stones Throw)

1. Oropendola
2. Mates
3. The Takedown
4. Hotel Jonny Chingas
5. Vertigo
6. So So So
7. Sun Go Down
8. Gecko Sound
9. Flying Cat
10. Mates (Dub)
11. So So So (Dub)
12. Hotel Jonny Chingas (Dub)

BUY RECORD

• Cosmic
• Jazz
• Jazz Funk