MULTI-GRAMMYAWARD WINNER GARY CLARK JR. RETURNS WITH FIRST NEW MUSIC IN NEARLY FIVE YEARS

Four-time Grammy Award winning artist Gary Clark Jr. surprises fans with a taste of new music; four new studio tracks from his much-anticipated upcoming album, JPEG RAW, set for release on March 22 via Warner Records. Listen to the 4-track sampler — including “Maktub,” “JPEG RAW,” “This Is Who We Are” and “Hyperwave”.

This new body of work signals a brave new world for Clark’s ever-expanding creative palette. The new music is dense and adventurous with a more cohesive synthesis of his eclectic musical universe. His samples, Thelonious Monk and Sonny Boy Williamson, decorate flourishes of African, World Music, and even Jazz while merging with rock, R&B, hip-hop and blues; familiar areas he has ventured before, this time with more unity forging a fresh new style.  Clark’s lyrics are pointed, deeply personal, outspoken and socially conscious with occasional forays into rap and spoken word from Clark himself.  The sonics are immersive, verging on modern groove-oriented psychedelia with hip-hop driven beats in verses giving way to anthemic choruses, rich with power-chording and wide fuzz riffage.

Songs like “Maktub,” “JPEG RAW,” “This Is Who We Are,” “Hyperwave,” and the epic 10-minute “Habits” break fresh ground defying categorization in the ever predictable music world. The co-written Stevie Wonder duet, “What About The Children,” feels like an immediate classic that could have lived on Innervisions or Talking Book if not for Clark’s fuzzed out riff and hip-hop pocket.

JPEG RAW is Clark’s first album since 2019’s critically lauded This Land, which became his third consecutive top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart and garnered three Grammy Awards, including Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance (“This Land”) and Best Contemporary Blues Album (This Land). Clark’s first Grammy win was awarded in 2014 for Best Traditional R&B Performance (“Please Come Home”).

Since its release, the singer-songwriter has toured extensively and stretched his wings as an actor, playing American blues legend Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, which received eight Academy Award nominations. 

Clark also served as the official Music Director for Jon Stewart’s acceptance of the 23rd Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. In addition to programming the event, he delivered a powerful tribute on stage, which aired on PBS nationwide.

With an eclectic range that contains multitudes, Clark continues to defy boundaries of any kind. Highlighted by an impressive coterie of awards, critical accolades, collaborations, sold-out tours that span the globe, billions of streams, endless television performances, and appearances in acclaimed films and TV series, Clark steps back into the light with JPEG RAW and breaks new ground that is both thrilling and inspiring on every level. 

Tracklisting:

Maktub*

JPEG RAW*

Don’t Start (feat. Valerie June)

This Is Who We Are (feat. Naala)*

To The End Of The Earth

Alone Together (feat. Keyon Harrold)

What About The Children (feat. Stevie Wonder)

Hearts In Retrograde

Hyperwave*

Funk Which U (feat. George Clinton)

Triumph

Habits

*Included on 4-track sampler

 

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