Lonnie Holley has released his new album, Tonky, via Jagjaguwar and shares the video for album closer ‘A Change Is Gonna Come.’ A song about rebirth, renewal, and the limits of hope and faith features instrumentation from Jacknife Lee, Jordan Katz, Marlon Patton, and Steve Dress. Holley questions, “But are we ready? / Are we prepared? / Are we ready for something to change? / Something to happen?”
Holley is an incredibly gifted storyteller with a commitment to the oral tradition and Tonky puts this on full display. The album is as expansive in sound as it is in making a place for a wide range of featured artists to come through the door of the record and feel at home, no matter how they spend the time they get on a song. Tonky delights in finding a sound and pressing it up against another found sound and another until, before a listener knows it, they are awash in a symphony of sound that feels like it stitches together as it is washing over you. The layers of sound found on Tonky are the result of decades of evolving experimentation. Lonnie Holley’s life of survival and endurance is one that is required – and no doubt still requires – a kind of invention. An invention that is also rich and present in Holley’s songs, which are full and immersive on Tonky. [Portions of this text are pulled from the Tonky bio written by Hanif Abdurraqib.]
Last week, Rizzoli Electa and BLUM Books published Holley’s eponymous and first major monograph which explores every facet of the artist’s practice—from installation, sculpture, music, painting, and film. In April, they’ll team up with Jagjaguwar to release a special slipcase edition including Tonky and the new monograph.
Praise For Lonnie Holley
“[Holley’s] music represents a devotion to the very act of creation.” — The New York Times
“[Holley] is making these incredible, just deeply moving, genre-defying pieces of music with a cast of other artists who are all buying in because they know what an incredible spirit and talent he is.” — Robin Hilton, NPR Music
Lonnie Holley Online:
