Shabazz Palaces Announces Their Fifth Album And Calls It Their Best Yet

Shabazz Palaces returns with a new project, The Don Of Diamond Dreams, this spring after spending 2019 recording. The result is a 10-track album that furthers the experimentation of the group’s Quazarz duology, as well as the high-concept mythology of the Shabazz Palaces Afrofuturistic space odyssey narrative. Check out the first single, “Fast Learner” featuring Purple Tape Nate, above. The Don Of Diamond Dreams is set for an April 17 release via Sub Pop Records.

The album will be available for streaming and download, naturally, but as is often the case with underground innovators like Shabazz Palaces, it will also be available on vinyl. The Loser Edition is pressed on clear vinyl with a silver swirl and ships with The Mushroom, a 90-page, 8×8 inch zine inspired by the album itself. Listeners can expect more of the jazz-influenced, unconventional sound of the last two Shabazz Palaces albums, if the album description on the band’s Sub Pop profile is any indication:

In some respects, it’s difficult to consider the possibility that this might be the best Shabazz Palaces album yet. Very few musicians have ever peaked in their fifth decade on earth, but whoever said they were actually from earth? It’s wrong to say that Shabazz Palaces have gone beyond the looking glass. This time they’ve shattered it entirely and created a brilliant new universe in each one of the shards.

Listen to “Fast Learner” above.

The Don Of Diamond Dreams is due 04/17 on Sub Pop Records. Pre-order it here.