Patti Smith has announced the June 5th release of her eleventh studio album, Banga. This highly-anticipated album marks Smith’s first collection of original material since 2004, when she made her Columbia Records debut with the critically-acclaimed trampin’. ‘April Fool,’ the first single from Banga, (featuring Tom Verlaine) is available digitally from April 3rd.
Banga was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York City and produced by Patti Smith and her band: Tony Shanahan, Jay Dee Daugherty and her long-time collaborator Lenny Kaye. Featured guests include Tom Verlaine, Jack Petruzzelli, Smith’s son Jackson and daughter Jesse Paris.
Inspired by Smith’s unique dreams and observations, Banga’s poetic lyrics are a reflection of our complex world – a world that is rife with chaos and beauty. Praised for her storytelling abilities, Smith has crafted an album that captures a wide range of human experience.
There is an exploratory spirit in the songs that make up Banga, including a melodic overture imagining the voyage of Amerigo Vespucci to the New World in 1497 (Amerigo), a rock song for the people of Japan in the wake of last years earthquake (Fuji-san), a classic ballad in memory of Amy Winehouse (This Is The Girl), an improvised meditation on art and nature (Constantine’s Dream) as well as a birthday song written for her friend Johnny Depp (Nine).
Patti Smith has received widespread recognition for her 2010 book, Just Kids, the story of her deep friendship with Robert Mapplethorpe and their effect on each other as burgeoning artists. Just Kids earned Smith the 2010 National Book Award for nonfiction as well as an enormous new following. Listeners of all generations will surely relate to the hope, humor, and humanity of Patti Smith’s adventurous new album.
The full track listing for Banga is as follows:
1. Amerigo
2. Fuji-san
3. April Fool
4. This is the Girl
5. Banga
6. Maria
7. Tarkovsky (The Second Stop is Jupiter)
8. Mosaic
9. Nine
10. Seneca
11. Constantine’s Dream
12. After the Gold Rush
