* Album Of The Month [March] *

(5 / 5)

If cool as cucumber jazz-meets-hip hop is your joint/bag/thing, then you are in the right place to find out about our album of the month pick for March, from US quintet Butcher Brown who release their uber impressive album “Letters From The Atlantic” today [28th March 2025.]

They set tongues wagging with recent single “Montrose Forest” featuring multi-Grammy winner, trumpeter Nicholas Payton. Their current single, “Ibiza” does them no harm, either.

This 12-track album features a host of special guests including Yaya Bey, Neal Francis, Melanie Charles and more. Butcher Brown’s musical range shows no boundaries by genre and time with “Letters From The Atlantic” which airs a seamless blend of jazz, hip hop, rock, funk, R&B, soul, Bossa nova and more.

It’s a set that will grow on you on each play, and is what we music critics [I prefer writer/journalist than critic], call an even listen. No fillers/dead wood here, folks.

Following their LP “Solar Music” in 2023, Butcher Brown’s new project moves toward an indie groove, featuring female guest artists Yaya Bey, Melanie Charles, Leanor Wolf, Mia Gladstone, Victoria Victoria, along with Nicholas Payton and Neal Francis.

“We recorded that joint with the idea of it tapping into deep house music – the kind you’d hear in a dance club in New York or the UK. We’re all producers, so we’re thinking of the samples a DJ would find and chop up into a groove.

“But do it all live, no samples, reimagining it in our own way,” says Butcher Brown. “We’re paying tribute to DJs and producers that inspire us, like Theo Parrish, Jazzy Jeff, DJ Spinna, Karizma and DJ Scratch. We’re also trying to manifest our live debut in Ibiza once they hear it.”

“We want this full record to feel like you’re floating on a trip up and down the coast – from the Chesapeake Bay to New York, down to Florida and over to Europe. It’s taking you on a journey, and you can determine what each song reminds you of.

“It’s a story of everything we listen to, capturing nostalgia for Virginia, the East Coast and overseas. We’re pulling sounds from The Atlantic”, says the band.

“Seagulls” kicks it off on Virginia Beach, totally peaceful. A song like “Unwind” feat. Melanie Charles is straight up Avenue C, Lower East Side. “Something New About You” with Neal Francis, gets into yacht rock down in the Keys.

Then “Hold You” gives a chill resonance, like you’re on a train in Europe on the other side of the ocean. The set’s closer, “Infant Eyes”, is an instrumental stamp paying homage to Wayne Shorter- who as a player and composer the band look up to.

The album was recorded with Alex De Jong at Spacebomb Studios in Richmond, with the five band members together over the course of a few sessions last summer. The album draws from their collective love of disco, house music, Bossa, drum ‘n’ bass, trip hop, drill and acid jazz. The strong female presence elevates a lot of the album. They bring “a real harmony and chemistry” to the end result.

“Our session with Yaya Bey was special because she came down to Richmond – we sat down and chopped it up for hours before recording together. You can feel that family energy on ‘I Remember,’ like laid back kicking it at a barbeque on the Fourth of July. That’s the important part about being in person for sessions, you just want to vibe with the person. We’re more concerned with that than anything, and it comes across on that song.”

Last word: “The nuance is turned up on ‘Letters From The Atlantic’. Progressively through the albums, we’re finding less potent ways to get our point across as Butcher Brown. Whereas ‘Solar Music’ had angular edges and rougher drums, this album is more laid back, comfortable and intentional.”

Comfortable it sure is and probably headed for inclusion on a slew of “Best Of 2025” lists come the end of 2025.