The Budos Band will release their first album in four years, Burnt Offering, via Daptone Records on October 21st. The nine strong Afro-soul outfit from Staten Island have unleashed a monster of a track entitled “The Sticks”,  to mark there return. A staggering blend of psychedelic rock, Blaxploitation era funk and soul that excites as it races along at breakneck speed. The new album will mark a departure in sound for the band, in the Budos’ early days, much inspiration was taken from French label Buda Musique’s “Ethiopiques” series of Ethiopian and Northeast African jazz. All lingering traces of touchstones of yore—be they Fela Kuti, Dyke and the Blazers, or Black Sabbath—have been wholly absorbed and filtered through the Budos Band’s ever-evolving aesthetic. Drummer Brian Profilio explains the thinking behind the forthcoming project:

“When it came time to title their new album, one decision was easy: “This isn’t The Budos Band IV,” proclaims drummer Brian Profilio. “This isn’t just more of the same.” The Budos Band embarked on an experimental journey since the release of The Budos Band III in 2010, seeking inspiration from sources far and wide.

While wizards use books of spells and alchemy to mix their masterful potions, the Budos employ heavy doses of continent-spanning psychedelic rock to beckon the occult and conjure the supernatural. Hence the title of the band’s fourth album: Burnt Offering.

“We made a conscious decision to embark on a new sound,” explains baritone saxophone player Jared Tankel. The heavy, trippy side the group unveiled on The Budos Band III reaches full flower on new tunes like “Aphasia,” “Trouble in the Sticks” and particularly the title track “Burnt Offering.” “We were messing around with an old Binson Echorec at practice one night and this loop emerged,” recalls bassist Dan Foder. The droning fuzz guitar is a call to the gods from below and encapsulates the band’s sonic progression perfectly. “This record is fuzzy, buzzy and raw, and more obviously psychedelic,” adds Profilio.

Burnt Offering breaks from Budos’ earlier records in another significant regard: this is their first album without an outside producer. “We had arrived at a different place sonically and needed see it through completely ourselves,” says Tankel. They still praise Daptone mastermind Gabriel Roth, who worked alongside Brenneck co-producing their first three records, but parting ways at this juncture made sense.

“We know exactly where we’re at,” says Profilio. “We didn’t want to have to explain ourselves if we were in pursuit of a specific sound or vibe.”

A more than promising return, “The Sticks” creates some great expectations for what’s about to follow. Tune in below.

Track List:

1. Into the Fog
2. The Sticks
3. Aphasia
4. Shattered Winds
5. Black Hills
6. Burnt Offering
7. Trail Of Tears
8. Magus Mountain
9. Tomahawk
10. Turn and Burn