Soulive and Van Hunt pay homage to Sly Stone, Brian Wilson, and D’Angelo with “Flowers At Your Feet.” The funk/jazz trio connected with the soul maverick by sending him an almost completed track. Van Hunt describes his feelings about the song in a press release.
“When Alan sent me the track, it immediately felt like a Sly Stone homage—and with Sly’s passing, I wasn’t sure I could add anything to make it more special. Then Brian Wilson passed, and I knew I needed to say something—to honor both of these men who shaped my musical life.Soulive already had the Sly & The Family Stone DNA; I wanted to bring in the Smile-era Brian Wilson color and that early-’70s Sly energy. So I pulled out the Clavinet, the Mu-Tron bass, and some stream-of-consciousness lyrics, channeling all the joy and reverence they inspired in me. As I recorded, I thought about Sly, Brian, George Clinton, Prince, Thelonious Monk, and D’Angelo. And now, after losing D’Angelo too, this song carries even more weight. ‘Flowers at Your Feet’ became my way of saying thank you to the innovators who built this music, and to Soulive, for keeping the garden alive.”
“Flowers At Your Feet” has the church stomp pioneered by Sly and then passed down to D’Angelo with the Beach Boys’ sleigh bell motif coursing through it all. The trio’s tribute to all three icons is timely, as all of them passed this year. Questlove’s Sly Lives! started the tributes to Sly back in January before his passing in June. The Roots drummer also participated in the tribute to him at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this week. “Flowers At Your Feet” is the second single from Soulive’s first album in 15 years. Flowers is scheduled for release on January 30, 2026. They reconnected at Flóki Studios in Iceland and wrote most of the album there. Band member Alan Evans described their work as being mostly intuitive. “We’re not super precious about it, man. If it felt good, we moved on. The three of us just fall into place. It’s like having a conversation that never ended.”
