Bruce Hornsby didn’t want to record this album.
After a five-year run of musically intrepid and critically acclaimed studio LPs – Absolute Zero, Non-Secure Connection, ‘Flicted, Deep Sea Vents – as well as entire albums’ worth of still-unreleased material, the virtuoso pianist suddenly found himself “creatively fried.”
Despite his best, well-intentioned efforts to step away from songwriting for a brief time, his creative musings ultimately prevailed. One particularly tenacious song idea led to several months of sleepless nights before Mr. Hornsby finally relented, resulting in the incredibly satisfying title track to his latest release, Indigo Park.
Within the ten tracks of Indigo Park, Mr. Hornsby and his uber-talented musical cohorts, The Noisemakers, this time bolstered by the inclusion of a genre-defying trio consisting of Blake Mills (guitar), Pino Palladino (bass) and Chris Dave (drums), deftly combine commercially-accessible melodies with atonal chording and off-kilter progressions into a wildly entertaining and adventurous musical escapade that is not for the faint of heart.
Indigo Park is fittingly bookended by two of Bruce’s most pop-sensible offerings in years, including the “Cyclone”-esque title track and the adult-contemporary leaning “Take A Light Strain”, the latter of which was inspired by a dream about Mr. Hornsby’s late father.
What lies in between is the stuff modern-era Bruce Hornsby fans’ dreams are made of.
The remainder of the album runs the entire musical gamut, from hip-hop-inspired tracks like “Entropy Here (Rust In Peace)” and “Ecstatic” to the dulcimer-infused “Memory Palace” and “North Dakota Slate Roof”, the latter of which features a catchy-as-hell earworm chorus.
A small handful of Bruce’s favorite accomplices make some memorable appearances here, with contributions from Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig as well as Bonnie Raitt and Bob Weir, marking one of the Grateful Dead’s guitarists’ final recording sessions prior to his passing in 2025.
The Raitt & Weir collaborations are particularly interesting as each track represents some of the more unique material on Indigo Park. “Ecstatic”, which finds Ms. Raitt blending seamless vocal harmonies with Bruce, combines modern intonation with elements of Graceland-era Paul Simon instrumentation and is a far cry from their previous pop-oriented collaborative efforts such as “Rainbow’s Cadillac” and “I Can’t Make You Love Me.”
Weir’s contributions to “Might As Well Be Me, Florinda” count among the LP’s standout moments as the late guitarist’s breathy vocals fit the track well. Meanwhile, Blake Mills’ envelope filter-laden guitar work somehow seems to perfectly complement the wildly off-kilter time signatures and dissonant melodies, resulting in what is arguably one of the most imposing & impressive entries into Bruce’s already remarkable catalog of original compositions.
Indigo Park’s lyrical efforts also cannot be overlooked, particularly the pair of entries from Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. In addition to the aforementioned “Might As Well Be Me, Florinda”, Hunter also contributed the lyrics to “Alabama”, which is chock full of familiar Hunter-esque allegories: eagles around a campfire, everlasting love, and metaphoric musical instruments. The enigmatic bard also included a brief note when he first conveyed the lyrics to Bruce, stating, “I don’t know what’s in here. I don’t know if there’s anything in here. I know it’s crazy as hell, but here it is.” Here it is, indeed.
Featuring a formidable and typically eclectic tracklist that showcases Bruce’s innovative and forward-thinking compositional and instrumental strengths, Indigo Park stands as one of Mr. Hornsby’s most inspiring efforts in years. And while we all wish the Williamsburg, VA native plenty of rest going forward, perhaps just a few more sleepless nights couldn’t hurt, especially if these are going to be the results.
Indigo Park is out this Friday (4/3) via Bruce’s own record label, Zappo Productions, at record stores and streaming sites everywhere.
