Today, GRAMMY-nominated electronic trailblazers ODESZA drop “Behind the Sun”, the mesmerizing, yet pulsing, latest release from their forthcoming album ‘The Last Goodbye’ (out July 22 via Foreign Family Collective/Ninja Tune).
“Behind the Sun” is driven by precise percussion reminiscent of the famous drumline that ODESZA brought out on their now-legendary ‘A Moment Apart’ tour, centered upon a beautiful vocal sample from Iranian singer, Simin Ghanem’s, “Seeb”.
Of the song, ODESZA said “While digging through old records we came across a song by the legendary Iranian singer, Simin Ghanem. It was such a beautifully haunting vocal that we couldn’t really get it out of our heads. Slowly we started to build these symphonic elements around her and piece by piece it started to become this big anthemic track. We wanted to incorporate pieces of live drumming in a new way and ended up running various snare drum elements through a resonator and modulating them to each hit. Overall we really love how this song came together, bringing the past into the present is something we find really exciting and inspiring.”
The track drop follows several major milestones for the duo of Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight including the recent announcement of their nearly sold-out, groundbreaking forthcoming ‘The Last Goodbye’ amphitheater tour (which sold over 350k tickets during the initial 72-hour on-sale period) and their recent sound design & curation of the HP Antarctic Dome at this year’s Coachella and their track “Love Letter (feat. The Knocks)” trending on TikTok alongside the likes of Harry Styles, Jack Harlow and Kid Cudi.
“Love Letter (feat. The Knocks)” dropped earlier this year, along with album sister tracks “The Last Goodbye (feat. Bettye LaVette)” and “Better Now (feat. MARO)”. Billboard called “The Last Goodbye (feat. Bettye LaVette)” “a sleek, propulsive stunner” while the NY Times said it “brings some Slavic melancholy to four-on-the-floor dance music, samples the most heart-rending phrases of LaVette’s vocals and stretches out the anguish, proving again how classic the song remains”.
The upcoming album is set to be the duo’s most ambitious album to date. A project rife with brightness and emotion, nostalgic yet rooted in the present, it serves as a sweeping sonic experience that speaks to themes of connection, reminiscence, and the impact we impart on one another.
On the forthcoming “The Last Goodbye” live tour, ODESZA will return with an all-new set and visuals on their biggest headlining yet, an amphitheater run featuring special guests Sylvan Esso, as well as a rotation of support from the likes of San Holo, Elderbrook, Ben Böhmer (Live) and Foreign Family Collective acts: ford., Gilligan Moss, & NASAYA. Full dates and support notation below.
“The Last Goodbye” Tracklist
1. This Version Of You (feat. Julianna Barwick)
2. Wide Awake (feat. Charlie Houston)
3. Love Letter (feat. The Knocks)
4. Behind The Sun
5. Forgive Me (feat. Izzy Bizu)
6. North Garden
7. Better Now (feat. MARO)
8. The Last Goodbye (feat. Bettye LaVette)
9. All My Life
10. Equal (feat. Låpsley)
11. Healing Grid
12. I Can’t Sleep
13. Light Of Day (feat. Ólafur Arnalds)
