Dark Matter

Submitted by nonesuch on
Release Date
DescriptionExcerpt

Dark Matter is Randy Newman's first album of new material in nine years. Produced by long-time Newman collaborators Mitchell Froom, Lenny Waronker, and David Boucher, the album includes songs about Vladimir Putin, the Kennedy brothers, Sonny Boy Williamson, science vs. religion, love and loss, and more. NPR says Newman "remains first and foremost a craftsman of song, capable of telling ordinary stories in ways no one quite has before." The AP says Newman "is still at the top of his game." Grammy Award Winner for "Putin," Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals.

Description

Grammy Award Winner for "Putin," Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals

Dark Matter, Randy Newman's first album of new material in nine years, will be released on Nonesuch Records on August 4, 2017, with the vinyl to follow on August 18. The record is the follow-up to 2008's acclaimed Harps and Angels, which the Guardian praised for its "sumptuous melodies, devastating pathos and thorny, irony-laden character songs," calling it, "the work of a true master of popular song." Dark Matter was recorded in Los Angeles and produced by long-time Newman collaborators Mitchell Froom, Lenny Waronker, and David Boucher. The album's nine songs include the 2016 digitally released "Putin," plus songs about the Kennedy brothers, Sonny Boy Williamson, science vs. religion, love and loss, and more.

Newman, who is known for writing from the perspective of various narrators, many of whom are unreliable, tried something new on Dark Matter: "If there is anything consistent about the songs, there is often more than one voice, in the big ones, and it's different for me, a difficult thing to bring off, to make it comprehensible," he says. "I think it works. They cover more ground than most songs do and portray a number of different characters. Audiences are smart. They'll understand the songs. I hope they like them as well.

"I'm proud of the record," Newman continues. "I think it's entertaining—I hope it's entertaining—and that's eighty percent of what I try to do. Also, I'm doing something different than I've ever done before. It's a step forward for me. And considering how long I've been doing this, I'm kinda proud of that."

After starting his songwriting career as a teenager, Newman began recording as a singer and pianist in 1968 with a self-titled album. Throughout the 1970s, he released several other acclaimed albums such as 12 Songs, Sail Away, and Good Old Boys. In addition to his solo recordings and regular international touring, Newman began composing and scoring for films in the 1980s. The list of movies he has worked on since then includes The Natural, Awakenings, Ragtime, all three Toy Story pictures, Seabiscuit, James and the Giant Peach, A Bug's Life, and most recently, Disney/Pixar's Cars 3.

Between 2003 and 2016, Nonesuch released three volumes of The Randy Newman Songbook, comprising solo recordings of songs from throughout Newman's five-decade career, along with a three-CD box set of all volumes (a four-LP, limited-edition vinyl version included bonus tracks). The New York Times said of the first disc: "The great craftsmanship is more apparent in the stripped-down context," and the Associated Press said, "Few singer-songwriters could inject more new life into solo piano versions of their work than Randy Newman." In 2011, the label released a live CD and DVD recorded at London's intimate LSO St. Luke's, accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra led by Robert Ziegler.

Randy Newman's many honors include six Grammys, three Emmys, and two Academy Awards, as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013—the same year he was given an Ivor Novello PRS for Music Special International Award. Newman also was presented with a PEN New England Song Lyrics of Literary Excellence Award in 2014.

ProductionCredits

Produced by Mitchell Froom, Lenny Waronker and David Boucher
Recorded and mixed by David Boucher
Recorded at University High, Los Angeles, CA

Orchestra recorded at Sony Scoring Stage, Culver City, CA
with help from Adam Michalak, David Marquette, Greg Dennen, Greg Loskorn, and Aron Kobayashi-Ritch

Additional recording at Sunset Sound Studios, Hollywood, CA
with help from Morgan Stratton, Clinton Welander, and Mick Higgins

Mastered by Robert C. Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios, Portland, ME

Orchestration: Randy Newman
Additional Orchestration: Jonathan Sacks

Design by Michael Carney
Photography by Pamela Springsteen (CD only)

Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz

Nonesuch Selection Number

558563

ns_album_releasedate
Album Status
Artist Name
Randy Newman
MusicianDetails

Randy Newman, piano/vocals
Matt Chamberlain, drums
David Piltch, bass
Blake Mills, guitar
Mitchell Froom, additional keyboards

Background Vocals
“The Great Debate”:
Sandie Hall, Teresa James, Kala Balch, Clydene Jackson, Alva Copeland, Donna Medine, Randy Crenshaw, John West, Michael Geiger, Alvin Chea
Solo: Clydene Jackson

“Brothers”:
Randy Crenshaw, John West, Alvin Chea

“Putin”:
Sandie Hall, Teresa James, Kala Balch, Clydene Jackson, Alva Copeland,Donna Medine, Randy Crenshaw, John West, Michael Geiger, Alvin Chea

Orchestra
Arranged and conducted by Randy Newman
Violin: Bruce Dukov, Julie Gigante, Tamara Hatwan, Eun Mee Ahn, Sarah Thornblade, Jacqueline Brand, Maria Newman, Belinda Broughton, Lisa Sutton, Alyssa Park, Helen Nightengale, Irina Voloshina, Amy Hershberger, Lorand Lokuszta, Marc Sazer, Jessica Guideri, Kevin Connelly, Roger Wilkie
Viola: Brian Dembow, Shawn Mann, Thomas Diener, Scott Hosfeld, David Walther, Matthew Funes, Alma Fernandez, Michael Nowak, Carolyn Riley, Luke Maurer
Cello: Dennis Karmazyn, Steve Erdody, Timothy Landauer, Armen Ksajikian, Jacob Braun, Laszlo Mezo, George Kim Scholes, Dane Little
Bass: Michael Valerio, Drew Dembowski, Steve Dress, Edward Meares
Flute: Ben Smolen, Jenni Olson, Geri Rotella
Oboe: Leslie Reed
Clarinet: Stuart Clark, Ralph Williams
Bassoon: Kenneth Munday, Rose Corrigan, Damian Montano
Horn: Teag Reaves, Dylan Hart, Ben Jaber
Trumpet: Jon Lewis, Wayne Bergeron, Dan Fornero, Larry Hall
Trombone: Andrew Martin, Bob McChesney, Craig Gosnell
Tuba: Jim Self
Alto Saxophone: Dan Higgins, John Yoakum
Tenor Saxophone: Bill Liston, Rusty Higgins
Baritone Saxophone: Greg Huckins
Harp: JoAnn Turovsky
Accordion: Nick Ariondo
Percussion: Alan Estes, Gregory Goodall

Cover Art
UPC/Price
Label
LP+MP3
Price
20.00
UPC
075597940275
Label
CD+MP3
UPC
075597940268
Label
96/24 HD FLAC
Price
16.00
UPC
075597940305
Label
FLAC
Price
10.00
UPC
075597940299
Label
MP3
Price
9.00
UPC
075597940329
  • 558563

News & Reviews

  • Randy Newman is the guest on the season four finale of the podcast Score. He talks with hosts Robert Kraft and Kenny Holmes about his film music, his family's film scoring legacy, and more. You can watch their conversation here.

  • Randy Newman’s eight-LP box set Roll with the Punches: The Studio Albums (1979–2017), first released for Records Store Day's RSD Drop in July, is now available in limited supply in the Nonesuch Store as well. The set contains Randy Newman's latest seven studio albums—Born Again, Trouble in Paradise, Land of Dreams, Faust, Bad Love (on vinyl for the first time), Harps and Angels, and Dark Matter—on 140-gram vinyl, featuring original album jackets, lyric/credit sheets, and Faust demos. You can take a look inside here.

  • About This Album

    Grammy Award Winner for "Putin," Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals

    Dark Matter, Randy Newman's first album of new material in nine years, will be released on Nonesuch Records on August 4, 2017, with the vinyl to follow on August 18. The record is the follow-up to 2008's acclaimed Harps and Angels, which the Guardian praised for its "sumptuous melodies, devastating pathos and thorny, irony-laden character songs," calling it, "the work of a true master of popular song." Dark Matter was recorded in Los Angeles and produced by long-time Newman collaborators Mitchell Froom, Lenny Waronker, and David Boucher. The album's nine songs include the 2016 digitally released "Putin," plus songs about the Kennedy brothers, Sonny Boy Williamson, science vs. religion, love and loss, and more.

    Newman, who is known for writing from the perspective of various narrators, many of whom are unreliable, tried something new on Dark Matter: "If there is anything consistent about the songs, there is often more than one voice, in the big ones, and it's different for me, a difficult thing to bring off, to make it comprehensible," he says. "I think it works. They cover more ground than most songs do and portray a number of different characters. Audiences are smart. They'll understand the songs. I hope they like them as well.

    "I'm proud of the record," Newman continues. "I think it's entertaining—I hope it's entertaining—and that's eighty percent of what I try to do. Also, I'm doing something different than I've ever done before. It's a step forward for me. And considering how long I've been doing this, I'm kinda proud of that."

    After starting his songwriting career as a teenager, Newman began recording as a singer and pianist in 1968 with a self-titled album. Throughout the 1970s, he released several other acclaimed albums such as 12 Songs, Sail Away, and Good Old Boys. In addition to his solo recordings and regular international touring, Newman began composing and scoring for films in the 1980s. The list of movies he has worked on since then includes The Natural, Awakenings, Ragtime, all three Toy Story pictures, Seabiscuit, James and the Giant Peach, A Bug's Life, and most recently, Disney/Pixar's Cars 3.

    Between 2003 and 2016, Nonesuch released three volumes of The Randy Newman Songbook, comprising solo recordings of songs from throughout Newman's five-decade career, along with a three-CD box set of all volumes (a four-LP, limited-edition vinyl version included bonus tracks). The New York Times said of the first disc: "The great craftsmanship is more apparent in the stripped-down context," and the Associated Press said, "Few singer-songwriters could inject more new life into solo piano versions of their work than Randy Newman." In 2011, the label released a live CD and DVD recorded at London's intimate LSO St. Luke's, accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra led by Robert Ziegler.

    Randy Newman's many honors include six Grammys, three Emmys, and two Academy Awards, as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013—the same year he was given an Ivor Novello PRS for Music Special International Award. Newman also was presented with a PEN New England Song Lyrics of Literary Excellence Award in 2014.

    Credits

    Randy Newman, piano/vocals
    Matt Chamberlain, drums
    David Piltch, bass
    Blake Mills, guitar
    Mitchell Froom, additional keyboards

    Background Vocals
    “The Great Debate”:
    Sandie Hall, Teresa James, Kala Balch, Clydene Jackson, Alva Copeland, Donna Medine, Randy Crenshaw, John West, Michael Geiger, Alvin Chea
    Solo: Clydene Jackson

    “Brothers”:
    Randy Crenshaw, John West, Alvin Chea

    “Putin”:
    Sandie Hall, Teresa James, Kala Balch, Clydene Jackson, Alva Copeland,Donna Medine, Randy Crenshaw, John West, Michael Geiger, Alvin Chea

    Orchestra
    Arranged and conducted by Randy Newman
    Violin: Bruce Dukov, Julie Gigante, Tamara Hatwan, Eun Mee Ahn, Sarah Thornblade, Jacqueline Brand, Maria Newman, Belinda Broughton, Lisa Sutton, Alyssa Park, Helen Nightengale, Irina Voloshina, Amy Hershberger, Lorand Lokuszta, Marc Sazer, Jessica Guideri, Kevin Connelly, Roger Wilkie
    Viola: Brian Dembow, Shawn Mann, Thomas Diener, Scott Hosfeld, David Walther, Matthew Funes, Alma Fernandez, Michael Nowak, Carolyn Riley, Luke Maurer
    Cello: Dennis Karmazyn, Steve Erdody, Timothy Landauer, Armen Ksajikian, Jacob Braun, Laszlo Mezo, George Kim Scholes, Dane Little
    Bass: Michael Valerio, Drew Dembowski, Steve Dress, Edward Meares
    Flute: Ben Smolen, Jenni Olson, Geri Rotella
    Oboe: Leslie Reed
    Clarinet: Stuart Clark, Ralph Williams
    Bassoon: Kenneth Munday, Rose Corrigan, Damian Montano
    Horn: Teag Reaves, Dylan Hart, Ben Jaber
    Trumpet: Jon Lewis, Wayne Bergeron, Dan Fornero, Larry Hall
    Trombone: Andrew Martin, Bob McChesney, Craig Gosnell
    Tuba: Jim Self
    Alto Saxophone: Dan Higgins, John Yoakum
    Tenor Saxophone: Bill Liston, Rusty Higgins
    Baritone Saxophone: Greg Huckins
    Harp: JoAnn Turovsky
    Accordion: Nick Ariondo
    Percussion: Alan Estes, Gregory Goodall

    Produced by Mitchell Froom, Lenny Waronker and David Boucher
    Recorded and mixed by David Boucher
    Recorded at University High, Los Angeles, CA

    Orchestra recorded at Sony Scoring Stage, Culver City, CA
    with help from Adam Michalak, David Marquette, Greg Dennen, Greg Loskorn, and Aron Kobayashi-Ritch

    Additional recording at Sunset Sound Studios, Hollywood, CA
    with help from Morgan Stratton, Clinton Welander, and Mick Higgins

    Mastered by Robert C. Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios, Portland, ME

    Orchestration: Randy Newman
    Additional Orchestration: Jonathan Sacks

    Design by Michael Carney
    Photography by Pamela Springsteen (CD only)

    Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz