The music world is still trying to figure out what to make of the new album from André 3000, best known as half of the hip-hop duo Outkast. Though he’s chipped in guest vocals for lots of other artists in the 17 years since the last Outkast LP, André, unlike his former partner Big Boi, had never released a solo album. Few expected his first, “New Blue Sun,” would be an instrumental LP of experimental flute music.
There were hints of this. Sightings of Mr. 3000 (real name: André Benjamin) playing his flute in public places have turned up on social media in recent years, and he played bass clarinet on a 17-minute free-form jazz song he released in 2018. He’s been playing woodwinds for years, and he plays a wide variety of them on “New Blue Sun.” All the tracks are recordings of improvisation sessions; most sound like the sort of New Age music that Windham Hill used to specialize in.
If Windham Hill records sold this well they’d still be releasing new music. The LP debuted at No. 34 on the Billboard album chart, and “I Swear” entered the record books when it reached No. 90 this week – its running time makes it the longest single ever to appear on the Hot 100. It’s title might be the longest, too. Since Benjamin couldn’t exercise his lyrical wit on the songs, he put it to work on their titles. “I Swear” doesn’t have the longest, but it’s probably got the strongest melody of the LP’s eight tracks.
