The Easy Star All-Stars Reveal 'Thrillah' Album Details
Wednesday, 13 June 2012
Written by Elliott Batte
The Easy Star All-Stars have finally announced which album it is that they’ll be re-working - and it’s Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ which will be given a reggae tinge this August.
Following in the footsteps of their albums ‘Dub Side of the Moon’, ‘Radiodread’ and ‘Lonely Hearts Dub Band’, Easy Stars ‘Thrillah’ is a full, track-by-track reggae tribute to Michael Jackson's ‘Thriller’. The album is set to bel be released in the UK on August 27th, whilst a 16-date UK tour has been confirmed for November 2012, which coincides with the 30th Anniversary of Thriller’s release. The band’s live show is legendary, and, having performed at Glastonbury Festival 2009 on 3 days across 3 stages (including the Pyramid Stage), they were nominated for a UK Festival Award.
Easy Star’s Thrillah brings back several of the reggae stars from previous albums, such as vocalists Michael Rose (Black Uhuru), Steel Pulse, Luciano, Mojo Morgan (Morgan Heritage), alongside the diverse roster of guests, including Yossi Fine (David Bowie, Lou Reed), Joe Tomino (Dub Trio/Matisyahu), Andy Farag (Umphrey’s McGee), and horn tracks courtesy of Israel’s highly-acclaimed Hadag Nachash.
“I was most excited about ‘Thriller’,” says producer/arranger/guitarist Michael Goldwasser. “I was always an R&B/soul and reggae kid growing up and I have an intense personal connection to Michael Jackson’s music. Writing the arrangements for this album was a cool challenge. I didn’t have to try to make non-dance music into dance music as on our previous albums because the original Thriller is so danceable already, but I needed to find ways to make each song groove in a different way from the original version.”
Billy Jean is currently available as a free download from their website now. The Billie Jean EP is released on July 10th, and includes two album tracks, along with non-album remixes and a dub version.
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