Carlos Niño & Friends

*Limited edition "Placental Purple" color vinyl* Placenta is the fourth collection of broadly imaginative and highly collaborative Carlos Niño & Friends music released on International Anthem in the last four years. It is also the first new music to be released by Carlos Niño & Friends following the November 2023 release of André 3000’s New Blue Sun – an album which Carlos produced alongside André, while co-writing, co-creating/playing, and co-mixing every song. Placenta is announced on April 11th, 2024, a date chosen because it is the 1st solar return of Moss Niño (a new being in human form, who Carlos and his partner Annelise are Earth parents of). Their experience of pregnancy, labor and delivery were all profoundly impactful for Carlos. Becoming a father again (a whole 24 years after the birth of Azul Niño, who has become a regular artistic collaborator with Carlos) he felt total Inspiration for this set of recordings, and hence it is perhaps the most conceptually-grounded Carlos Niño & Friends album we've yet to present – fully connected to the spirit of family, birth, and "how we get here."

The piece features testimonies from André 3000 (who says, about Carlos: "I always like to meet people that are crazier than me. People that say ideas and it’s like, ‘Oh hell yeah. Let’s go.’”) and Nate Mercereau (who says: “He brings a lot of enthusiasm. He brings a lot of actual connection. He brings a lot of support. He opens people up.”) as it chronicles Carlos's prolific CV as a creator, curator, connector, and community pillar of the Los Angeles music scene. 

About the forthcoming album, Ducker and the New York Times say: "[Placenta], like the early months of parenthood, can be both serene and overwhelming. “Moonlight Watsu in Dub” finds an easy rhythm among echoey clatter and nature sounds, while “Generous Pelvis” soars over Sam Gendel’s swirling saxophone. The 17-minute closer “Play Kerri Chandler’s RAIN” — built off a live performance by Niño, Mercereau and Botofasina in Köln, Germany, with the vocalist Cavana Lee — twists with anticipation and uncertainty before reaching a safe landing place."

Two limited edition "Placental Purple" color vinyl LPs inside a heavyweight UV gloss single pocket jacket with hype sticker and IARC poly-lined dome pattern innersleeves. Lacquers cut by Daniel K at SST and pressed at Pallas in Germany.