Trifecta Release New Single And Video For 'Once Around The World With You'
The new single from experimental fusion trio Trifecta is out now. Titled ‘Once Around The Sun With You’, the track is the third single to be taken from the band’s new album The New Normal, set for release on 12 April.
“prodigious technical ability and a sense of the absurd”
PROG MAG
“With incredible twists and turns, The New Normal isn’t your daddy’s fusion album, this is where all of the ingredients are mixed in into some hot and spicy stew, blended in with a massive amount of wasabi sauce that is a dish served well”
ECHOES AND DUST
Speaking on the track, lyricist and singer Nick Beggs shared, “Once around the sun with you is an anniversary song written for my wife in commemoration of all the years she’s put up with me. Need I say more. The Woman is a saint.”
Joining the trio of masterful musos on the new single with additional guitar is Alex Lifeson (Envy of None / Rush). Speaking on the collaboration with Alex Lifeson, Beggs said “Our history with Alex Lifeson goes back quite a few years to when Rush invited numbers of artists to rerecord an anniversary version of their classic album 2112. Steven Wilson and band rattled off a version of The Twilight Zone one afternoon during sound check which was included on the final release. I also invited Alex to play guitars on the Mute Gods’ song One Day so I guess it was only a question of time before he was asked to contribute to Trifecta too. I don’t like to bug him too much but if it’s a song I think he’ll enjoy I’ll inevitably send him a demo to gauge his response. He instantly related to Once Around The Sun and added some wonderful guitar colour to the track.”
Trifecta Release New Single And Video For "Stupid Pop Song"
Trifecta, the trio of Nick Beggs, Adam Holzman and Craig Blundell release new single and video for “Stupid Pop Song” Taken from The New Normal Released 12 April 2024 on Kscope.
Following the announcement of the soon to be released second musical observation in the form of The New Normal from Trifecta, the collaboration of singer songwriter Nick Beggs, keyboardist extraordinaire Adam Holzman and internationally renowned drummer Craig Blundell; the fearless trio have released a new single - “Stupid Pop Song”.
The single is accompanied by a glorious, animated video created by Willow Beggs (@_willowbeggs on instagram or www.willowbeggs.com )
As Nick Beggs explains the song was not destined to be released by Trifecta “Stupid Pop Song was written for my daughter Willow who had a band for a while and was looking for material. I wrote it in the car one day whilst thinking about her musical journey.
It obviously has a different narrative and irony when sung by me which is what happened in the end owing to the fact her band split up.
I played it to Craig and Adam who both thought it would work well for Trifecta, but at the time I was unsure. They kind of talked me round after playing with the arrangement in their studios.....I think it worked out rather well.”
The collaboration of singer songwriter Nick Beggs, keyboardist extraordinaire Adam Holzman and internationally renowned drummer Craig Blundell combine Jazz Fusion and Progressive Rock with a dash of English wit Trifecta have announced their new album – their second musical observation in the form of The New Normal on 12 April on Kscope.
It is often said that the greatest musical groups are the ones with the right mixture of ideas, talent and chemistry. These are things Trifecta have in abundance. It is, of course, no secret that the three members – keyboardist Adam Holzman, bassist/Chapman Stick mastermind Nick Beggs and drummer Craig Blundell – have spent their most recent years touring some of the world’s biggest stages as part of many bands including with Steven Wilson. So when they decide to form a largely instrumental offshoot as a trio, eventually writing and releasing 2021’s Fragments debut, they were already off to a head start, with a tangible sense of creative familiarity that had been stunning audiences in every corner of the globe.
For listeners seeking to escape the confines of the normal world, ‘The New Normal’ will enable a window into vistas in a multitude of sonics and in concept. By combining elements of Progressive Rock, Jazz Fusion all with a dash of typical English wit the band bring the listener into a world where sound is malleable, time is a mere concept and vegetables have otherworldly properties like the ‘Stroboscopic Fennel’.
1. Beck And Call [02:35] 2. Dot Are You Wooing? [00:53] 3. Stroboscopic Fennel [02:25] 4. Just Feel It Karen [03:53] 5. Sibling Rivalry [04:01] 6. Ornamental Lettuce [02:15] 7. Daddy Long Legs [04:07] 8. What Are You Doing? [00:53] 9. Stupid Pop Song [03:32] 10. Crime Spree [03:07] 11. Bach Stabber [02:07] 12. Kleptocrat [02:35] 13. Once Around The Sun With You [03:50] 14. Chinese Fire Drill [03:29] 15. Ouch! My OCD [01:17] 16. Wake Up Call [03:46] 17. Wacky Tobaccy [03:28] 18. Canary In A Five And Dime [03:55] 19. On The Spectrum [03:23]
This new 19 track, epic sees the band building upon the innovative ambition and genre-hopping skulduggery they so fearlessly introduced themselves to the world with on ‘Fragments’. The New Normal could easily have carried on in that same direction and comfortably delighted fans of all three musicians, as well as their associated projects. But if there’s anything we know about Holzman, Beggs and Blundell, it’s that they are bursting with ideas of every kind. Which explains why this album is guided by an uncontainable brilliance and bravado that packs in so many twists and turns, practically laughing at any notion of genre or boundary. The mid-70s fusion of Beck And Call cascades into the jazz noir brilliance of Dot Are You Wooing without a flicker of hesitation, venturing far beyond the introductory nuances into something truly dazzling and unexpected, telling another chapter of a rapidly evolving story. It’s almost as if this band take delight in ignoring the stylistic stop signs that provoke fear in the less adventurous…
“I think we all felt it was important to not fit too heavily into one idiom,” admits Beggs. “There was a lot we wanted to say and we couldn’t really compact it all into one predetermined sound. I’m especially proud of Dot Are You Wooing and Chinese Fire Drill. We wanted to take listeners on a journey they won’t forget. The roots of every song is representative of one person in this band. Adam would come up with something like Wacky Tobaccy, mapping out the sonics, and then we would expand on it together, changing things up wherever it suited the music. Craig came up with the song Ornamental Lettuce and then Adam and I added our parts on top. There’s plenty more to come!”
Joining the trio of masterful musos is Alex Lifeson (Envy of None / Rush) for additional guitar on ‘Once Around The Sun With You’ and Theo Travis (Steven Wilson) on saxophone for insectoid grooves of ‘Daddy Long Legs’. Alongside John Paul Jones’ very chapman stick from 1979 that was sent to Nick and used to record ‘The New Normal’.
The album was recorded in the Bermuda Triangle of normality that is Leighton Buzzard, Bedford and New York between 2019 and 2023, engineered by the band and mastered by Andy VanDette (Beastie Boys / Rush / Whitney Houston), adorned with artwork that was inspired by an original idea from Hajo Muller.
Available on Limited edition white 2 LP / CD / 2 LP and digitally – available to pre-order now
FRAGMENTS, THE DEBUT ALBUM FROM TRIFECTA IS OUT NOW
The record primarily leans toward a fusion of jazz rock, imaginatively described by Beggs as “Fission! It’s like Fusion but less efficient and more dangerous ..with fall out.” and being mainly instrumental with the exception of one track, the wonderfully titled and first single “Pavlov’s Dog Killed Schrodinger’s Cat”. The lyrics of which, Beggs states “are written from the perspective of a layman trying to understand quantum mechanics…and failing”. The track also features drum programming from Russell Holzman.
The brilliantly animated video was devised and created by Beggs himself – he comments “The film clip is a new take on the lyric video concept I guess? I made it one afternoon in my home studio using my i-phone and a writing pad!.”
Each band member completed the recording and engineering of their own contributions in their various home studios which helped in bringing their individual production ideas to each track. Adam Holzman mixed the record at his New York home studio and the mastering was handled by Andy VanDette (Rush, David Bowie, Deep Purple, Porcupine Tree, Beastie Boys) in New York.
The title for the debut came about as Nick Beggs explains “We discussed early on, the idea of each piece having a Fragment number and track title, for example – ‘Fragment 10 - Pavlov’s Dog Killed Schrodinger’s Cat’. As all the compositions were written as jams or in our home studios this idea seemed even more prescient. So, we titled the album ‘Fragments’”.