HELLO and welcome to the very first Tuesdays With Lazerbeak post of 2019! I hope you all had a reflective and restful end of the year and got a chance to catch your breath a little bit. It was crazy to make that Doomtree Year In Review post and realize all the craziness that transpired for us over here in 2018. I figured we set the bar pretty damn high for ourselves last year, so we might as well keep that momentum going and start 2019 out with a total bang. On that note, today is a very special day for me as we are finally announcing the details of the first Lazerbeak solo album in over SEVEN YEARS. Good god, time flies. Without further ado, it brings me immense joy to announce Luther, my new instrumental full-length, coming out on Doomtree Records this February 15th.
That’s the bonkers album cover above, designed by the incomparable Andy McAlpine with water imagery provided by our good friend James Gundersen. The last solo album I released was Lava Bangers way back at the top of 2012. It consisted of 20 short, bang-your-head heat knockers – a sound and style that I’ve been building on for about two decades now. I spent the last five years since that release focused mostly on collaborating with as many other artists as possible (Doomtree, Shredders, Lizzo, Mixed Blood Majority, Trampled By Turtles, Longshot, Sophia Eris, etc) and putting in the majority of my day-to-day time running Doomtree Records and managing other artists. I also got waaaaaaay into some hippy dippy stuff that I never thought I’d ever try: meditation, mindfulness, gratitudes, therapy, crystals, you name it. All of which has truly transformed my world in an incredibly positive way. I kind of figured my time as a solo artist had passed and I would stick to producing other artists, but last fall I suddenly got struck with some crazy solo inspiration that I hadn’t experienced since the making of my 2010 Legend Recognize Legend album, and it was all of a sudden off to the races again. I love how that can happen when you’re least expecting it. This time around the idea was to try and create the exact opposite of Lava Bangers, and it’s been a really wild ride ever since trying to determine exactly what that means. To use a real high-ass concept, if Lava Bangers was literally the sound of fresh lava erupting, Luther is maybe what happens when things cool down and gradually begin to take shape. It’s slow and patient and building and meditative, and I hope in it’s own new way it still bangs a little. The first single we’re releasing from the project is called “Winging It,” and that’s basically what I’ve been doing with this music ever since last Fall. You can check out the full song below and at any and all of the streaming and download sites. I really truly hope you enjoy it.
Lazerbeak – “Winging It”
As is with every major release on Doomtree Records you can definitely expect some majorly outrageous physical pre-order options, and record one is no different. So let’s kick things off with the Standard Luther Pre-Order, which gets you your choice of CD or LP, a newly designed Lazerbeak sticker, and access to a special Instagram Live Q&A with yours truly around album release. Plus an instant download of “Winging It.”
Kicking things up a notch, we’ve got the Deluxe Luther Pre-Order, which comes with all of the above plus a signed copy of the album, limited-edition t-shirt designed specifically for this pre-order, your very own Tuesdays With Lazerbeak coffee mug, and copies of my two previous solo albums to complete the discography. Plus if you order the LP you get it on special-edition deep blue vinyl.
And lastly, for the rare and extraordinary humans out there who want to take it all the way to eleven, we’ve got the Collectors Luther Pre-Order. This one is limited to only 100 bundles, contains everything from the Deluxe, and you’ll also receive a signed copy of both the CD and LP, a 12×12 screenprinted and signed art poster, and two very special extras that are quite near and dear to my heart. The first one is a personalized Lazerbeak gratitude journal which will include a hand-written opening entry from me to you with some words of encouragement before you start writing down your own daily gratitudes. It’s a process that I’ve been doing for over two years now and I can’t begin to tell you how helpful it’s been in my day-to-day life. The second is something so ridiculous that I almost talked myself out of it, but what the hell. I present to you the Lazerbeak #CrystalDaddy Starter Pack. That’s right. I will be hand picking three different and unique crystals specifically for you, charging them up with lightbeams of positivity, and dropping them into a customized #CrystalDaddy pouch along with a stick of Palo Santo for your own use. For better or worse, it really doesn’t get anymore Beak than that. Check it all out below and grab whatever bundle fits your budget right HERE. Man oh man, it feel good to type all of this stuff out into the world finally!
And I’ve still got one more big announcement for you today in addition to all this album stuff. I’m beyond excited to introduce the first episode of the new monthly TUESDAYS WITH LAZERBEAK PODCAST!!! That feels especially crazy to type, haha. Every first Tuesday of the month I’ll be bringing you a new podcast to catch you up to date on all things Doomtree, Bonus Jams, pop culture, mindfulness, my insane idiot children, random endorsement deals that I’m chasing, segue streaks, and pretty much anything else you can think of.
I cannot thank the extremely talented Jeyca Maldonado enough for not only convincing me to finally make this podcast a reality, but also producing it, co-hosting it with me, and generally just holding my hand through these new rocky podcast waters. She is the absolute best and I’m excited for you to get to know her more through this. Big time shouts go out to MPR’s Tim Nelson as well for helping to engineer these episodes and advise us with his sage wisdom along each step of the way. Such a champ. This month Jeyca and I go through the full Doomtree 2018 Year In Review, touching on all the releases and major moments throughout the way, discuss our favorite non-Doomtree albums of 2018, and get even more in-depth on the making of this Luther album. I even take some time to break down the “Winging It” beat and show you all the different elements that are swimming around in that thing. You can check out the first episode below and on most places you go to listen to podcasts. We’re just getting our sea legs with this thing but I’m already really excited about it. Waaaaay open to suggestions and ideas too, so holler at me on Twitter and Instagram with the #AskBeak hashtag to let us know what you’re looking for from future episodes. We’ll be doing a bunch of interviews moving forward as well. Hope you enjoy it and thanks for listening!
Alright! I think that officially does it for this massive first post of the year. Thanks for sticking it out with me and for all of your support along the way. I’ll leave you with “Winging It” as a final Bonus Jam in case you missed it up top and then we’ll see you back here next week for another edition of Tuesdays With Lazerbeak!
Lazerbeak – “Winging It”
— Beak
Twitter: @_LAZERBEAK_
Instagram: @lazerbeak
