Brasstracks is the Grammy award winning project of New York based musician and producer Ivan Jackson. Over the years, Brasstracks has evolved from a hip-hop-jazz-big-band to an ever-morphing landscape where Jackson sets the framework.
The Brasstracks rap sheet runs for miles. The group scored two GRAMMY wins for their production work on Chance The Rapper’s seminal “No Problems” in 2017 (Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Album). They’ve also since been nominated for their work with Harry Styles during the 2021 GRAMMYs for Best Pop Vocal Album, ultimately taking home the Best Pop Solo Performance award for their work on “Watermelon Sugar.”
Brasstracks has appeared on Saturday Night Live, performing alongside Miley Cyrus and Mark Ronson, the latter of whom is a frequent collaborator. Other collaborations include Anderson .Paak, Khalid, Mac Miller, and BTS. Basstracks has also performed songs from their debut album on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
The new Brasstracks era sees Jackson as an architect for this larger project of incubating artists and allowing them the space to grow.
The latest single “Anesthesia” featuring Mandy Lee of MisterWives, is the second single from Brasstracks’ upcoming album. Lee soars as she sings, “Doppelgänger, I can’t hate you even though I know the grass is greener”, crooning a sneering congratulations to a nemesis who always seems to be one step ahead. The title itself is a nod to the numbness that accompanies this feeling. The vibrant single shimmers with oscillating synths and Lee’s velvet vocals, emitting an overall colorful and contagious aura. The playful track refuses to let listeners stay still, with fast-paced beats and layered instrumentation creating an all-encompassing atmosphere, captivating you from the very first second.
The upcoming album is a unique addition to the Brasstracks catalog: brimming with technical wizardry and maximal, brassy bombast, but intensely personal, rife with self-loathing and heartache. The album’s undeniable joyousness stands in unflinching contrast with its subject matter, and “Anesthesia” is a microcosm of its ethos: a shimmering, groovy, soulful house record about, above all else, jealousy. The album weaves in and out of itself seamlessly, with “Anesthesia” sampling Brasstracks’ previous FATHERDUDE + TOBi flanked single, “Nobody’s Fool”. Despite its seething subtext, “Anesthesia” is a quintessential warm weather banger, and was a highlight of Brasstracks’ sold out, 6-show Blue Note run this March.
Garnering an incredible amount of accolades, Brasstracks continues to be a trailblazer this 2023.
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