The New Faith

“This year's most forward-thinking and innovative roots collection.” - Jonathan Bernstein

— Rolling Stone

“The New Faith is hymnal, rich with chants and layered, organic instrumentation. It is deeply and spiritually moving, vibrant and celebratory. Revelatory, even.” - Cat Woods

— The Telegraph

Acclaimed musician and scholar Jake Blount will release his highly-anticipated new album, The New Faith, September 23 on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings—Blount’s first project in partnership with the esteemed non-profit label (pre-order/pre-save). The follow up to 2020’s breakthrough debut, Spider Tales, which The Guardian awarded a perfect five stars and called, “an instant classic,” The New Faith will be released as part of Smithsonian Folkways’ African American Legacy series—co-conceived with and supported by the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.  

A dystopian Afrofuturistic concept album, the record features ten reimagined and reinterpreted traditional Black spirituals across twelve tracks in addition to two original spoken word pieces.

Conceived, written and recorded during the darkest months of lockdowns—while Blount himself was still recovering from what he now knows was likely a bout with long COVID—and just after the unrest that followed the murder of George Floyd, the album aims to envision what Black religious music would sound like in a not-so-distant future world devastated by climate change. 

Produced by Blount along with Brian Slattery, the album was recorded mainly in Blount’s own bedroom in Providence, RI. In addition to Blount on vocals, fiddle, banjo, percussion and strings and Slattery on percussion, guitar and strings, the album features guest appearances by Demeanor, D’orjay The Singing Shaman, Samuel James, Kaïa Kater, Lizzie No, Mali Obomsawin, Brandi Pace, Rissi Palmer and Lillian Werbin. 

In celebration of the album, Blount will embark on an extensive headline tour this fall including stops at Chicago’s The Hideout, Minneapolis’ First Avenue, Philadelphia’s World Café Live, Washington, DC’s Pearl Street Warehouse, Brooklyn’s Jalopy Theater and Boston’s Club Passim as well as appearances at Bristol Rhythm & Roots Festival, AmericanaFest and Bourbon and Bluegrass Festival.

The New Faith

Jake Blount

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'The New Faith' will be released on September 23rd, 2022 on CD/digital and early 2023 on LP.

'The New Faith' tells an Afrofuturist story set in a far-future world devastated by climate change. Jake Blount and his collaborators embody a group of Black climate refugees as they perform a religious service, invoking spirituals that are age-old even
'The New Faith' will be released on September 23rd, 2022 on CD/digital and early 2023 on LP.

'The New Faith' tells an Afrofuturist story set in a far-future world devastated by climate change. Jake Blount and his collaborators embody a group of Black climate refugees as they perform a religious service, invoking spirituals that are age-old even now, familiar in their content but extraordinary in their presentation. These songs, which have seen Black Americans through countless struggles, bind this future community together and their shared past; beauty and power held in song through centuries of devastation, heartbreak, and loss.

Learn more: https://folkways.si.edu/jake-blount/the-new-faith
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  1. 1
    Take Me to the Water / Prayer 3:35
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  2. 2
    The Downward Road 3:36
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  3. 3
    Didn’t It Rain 3:05
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  4. 4
    Tangle Eye Blues 3:51
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  5. 5
    Parable 2:20
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  6. 6
    Death Have Mercy 2:59
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  7. 7
    City Called Heaven 4:52
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  8. 8
    They Are Waiting for Me 4:27
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  9. 9
    Psalms 2:54
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  10. 10
    Just as Well Get Ready, You Got to Die 3:08
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  11. 11
    Give Up the World 4:09
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  12. 12
    Once There Was No Sun 4:21
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“Blount sings and speaks from the eye of the musical storm he's cultivated with a keen and collected alertness that's riveting... To follow his voice and vision is mightily clarifying.” - Jewly Hight

— NPR

“The New Faith deepens the soul of Black folk, offers dystopian salvation... finds [Blount] expanding the depth and scope of the meaning of 'Afrofuturism' in the modern era.” - Marcus K. Dowling

— The Tennessean

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