El Michels Affair and Black Thought release their Glorious Game album. Leon Michels and Black Thought started working on the album in 2020 during the pandemic. Michels’ band is known for playing live but GG inspired a different approach. The musician decided to use lots of samples of his live playing and some lifted from soul records. Michel’s production spins Black Thought’s movie-worthy tales on an axis of nostalgic sounds that become new again. The vintage flavor courses through the survival creed of “Alone” with peppy drums and jazzy horns and the imported harmonies surrounding the autobiographical story of “The Weather.” Black Thought described GG in a press statement: “To me, these songs are like scenes from a film that is my life. That’s the way it evolved.” The Roots’ emcee’s relentless microphone rarely rests as he just shared his Cheat Codes album with Danger Mouse last year. Glorious Game is on time to make new spring and summer memories and playlists.
