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Adrian Quesada’s ‘Noble Metals’ transports us to another world

Adrian Quesada

One album in 2022 wasn’t enough for Adrian Quesada. Earlier this year the Black Pumas cofounder released the “psychedelic bolero” album Boleros Psicodélicos, and now this month he announced the release of yet another album, the all-instrumental collection Jaguar Sound.

The first single from Jaguar Sound is “Noble Metals,” a trippy, otherworldly groove steeped in ’70s cinematic sounds and laid-back hip-hop beats that almost effortlessly transports you to another place and time. Listen below. 

Jaguar Sound was conceived and recorded at Quesada’s Electric Deluxe Studio in 2020, at the height of the pandemic. During that time, Quesada says, “I just rode my bike every single day and listened to [hip-hop producer] the Alchemist. I’d come back home and crank out beats.” 
 

Jaguar Sound

You can hear all that in “Noble Metals,” a warm, easygoing groove that clearly nods to hip-hop producer the Alchemist, along with the cinematic soundscapes of 1960s and ’70s film composers like Ennio Morricone. Which is no coincidence: according to Quesada, at the time he was listening to “a lot of incredible Italian and French composers and volumes worth of amazing Library Music that was made for TV and commercials.”

“Film scores and 70s library music have always played a big part in my musical language as they paint a cinematic picture without words.”

In the way he gave bolero music new life on Boleros Psicodélicos, so he does with this instrumental “library music” on Jaguar Sound. And it’s not just a nod to his personal memories – he’s created a whole new world that stands up on its own and seeks new life. 

“I find as I get older that sometimes I feel a responsibility to show the possibility to build bridges and coexist between different worlds. I want someone to discover something they normally wouldn’t entertain.”

Jaguar Sound is out Nov. 18. 

Jaguar Sound Tracklist
  • Reflection with Two Children
  • Noble Metals
  • Rise of the Have Nots
  • Spirits feat. Ikebe Shakedown
  • Starry Nights
  • Alberto’s Loop
  • Portrait of the Artist as a Young Woman
  • Fireflies
  • Turk’s Cap
  • The Inquisitor
  • DG on the Keys
  • Final Portrait

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