D’Angelo triumphantly returned to the music scene last year after a long hiatus, teaming back up with The Roots’ ?uestlove to complete his third album.
During an interview with Billboard.com, the drummer said that the two have been in the studio finishing up work on the LP, which they began recording back in 2004. He explains that they were spending almost entire days wrapping up the project, and confirms that it’s “99 percent” done.
“All last week, I was in the studio finishing (the album),” he said. “We spent close to 18 hours, well not me personally because I have to go to ‘Fallon,’ but usually right after work. He’s the only person that I’ll actually go to the studio with and stay there to six in the morning, re-doing these drum parts. I won’t even do that for my own band, but I’ll do it for him. Right now, we’re just tightening up the loose ends. But I still stand by, 99% of it is done.”
?uestlove, who says that the album should be done by February at the latest, likened the album to a “classic” that’s ahead of its time and compared it to Sly and the Family Stone.
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“I would not be far off by saying this is probably my generation’s version of Sly (and the Family Stone’s) ‘There’s a Riot Goin’ On.’ It’s potent. It’s funky. It’s an extremely hard pill to swallow,” he said. “He’s one of those artists that have, of course, taken 13 years to follow up a record. It’s going to take you about 10 years to digest this record. Totally brilliant. Just the way this society works with music… being able to judge if something is a classic after the first listen, you can do that after thirty seconds on this. And the fact that we started this record in 2004, and it still sounds like it came out five years from now, it is a testament to the timelessness of it”
After announcing his first U.S. performance in 10 years last May, D’Angelo gradually returned to the spotlight, performing at award shows and festivals and later hitting the road with Mary J. Blige on “The Liberation Tour.”
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