For 25 years now, Jagjaguwar has been a defining force in indie music thanks to the number of beloved artists who have found a label home with them. They’re spending the year celebrating with a number of special releases, and today they’ve announced the latest one: This Is A Mindfulness Drill, a reimagining of the 1998 Richard Youngs album Sapphie. The project (which is set for release on June 25) is led by the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, and they’ve also gotten assists from Moses Sumney, Sharon Van Etten, and Perfume Genius.
The project opens with the Sumney-featuring “Soon It Will Be Fire,” which has been shared today. The nine-minute recording is carried by meditative guitar and Sumney’s vocals, all of which are complemented by warm horns.
The label describes the three-song project, “In this new take on a definitive moment of the Jagjaguwar catalog, the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble transforms Youngs’ intimate compositions, originally recorded with just classical guitar and voice, expanding the instrumentation to include affecting and intuitive arrangements of horns and more. Moses Sumney, Perfume Genius and Sharon Van Etten pay homage to Youngs’ plaintive vocal performances, delivering remarkable, reinterpreted renditions to each of Sapphie’s three torch songs.”
Listen to “Soon It Will Be Fire” above and check out the This Is A Mindfulness Drill art and tracklist below.
1. “Soon It Will Be Fire” Feat. Moses Sumney
2. “A Fullness Of Light In Your Soul” Feat. Perfume Genius
3. “The Graze Of Days” Feat. Sharon Van Etten
This Is A Mindfulness Drill is out 6/25 via Jagjaguwar. Pre-order it here.