Last year, Unknown Mortal Orchestra shared the song “I Killed Captain Cook” and promised that a double album would land in 2023. The band has now revealed the project’s title and release date: V arrives March 17 via Jagjaguwar. Unknown Mortal Orchestra have also released the new single “Layla,” along with a music video directed by Vira-Lata. The visual is first part of a two-part series documenting the adventures of two young women. Watch it below.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra leader Ruban Nielson was inspired by West Coast AOR, classic hits, off-kilter pop, and Hawaiian hapa haole music while writing V, which was conceived in Palm Springs, California, and Hilo, Hawaii. Nielson collaborated with his brother, Kody, on the album, as well as his father, saxophonist and flutist Chris Nielson, and longtime Unknown Mortal Orchestra member Jacob Portrait.
In the early days of the pandemic, Kody Nielson flew from New Zealand to Palm Springs to help Ruban with his recordings, but Ruban had to travel to Hawaii when one of his uncles became sick. The brothers were reunited in Hawaii at a cousin’s wedding, before they returned to Palm Springs to finish the album.
“In Hawaii, everything shifted off of me and my music,” Ruban Nielson said in a press release. “Suddenly, I was spending more time figuring out what others need and what my role is within my family. I also learned that things I thought were true of myself are bigger than I thought. My way of making mischief—that’s not just me—that’s my whole Polynesian side. I thought I was walking away from music to focus on family, but the two ended up connecting.”
V is the first double album from Unknown Mortal Orchestra and follows the 2018 releases Sex & Food and IC-01 Hanoi. The group will kick off a tour behind V in March.
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Unknown Mortal Orchestra: V
V:
01 The Garden
02 Guilty Pleasures
03 Meshuggah
04 The Widow
05 In the Rear View
06 That Life
07 Layla
08 Shin Ramyun
09 Weekend Run
10 The Beach
11 Nadja
12 Keaukaha
13 I Killed Captain Cook
14 Drag