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Two years ago Michael Franti decided to 'walk his talk' and traveled to the war zones of Iraq, Israel and Palestine. This wasn't a USO green zone sponsored visit - Franti and his team organized a trip that would take him to the core of the red-zoned, war torn neighborhoods of Baghdad, the West Bank and Gaza Strip with his guitar, video cameras and the intent to experience first hand the human cost of war. Out of this journey, Franti, has created a compelling documentary film titled I Know I'm Not Alone and a searing, reflective new album of original songs titled Yell Fire! recorded in Kingston, Jamaica and Franti's hometown of San Francisco, California. Ironically, Franti's journey to the war-ravaged Middle East inspired his most uplifting set of songs to date. He explains, "The thing that I found when I was in war zones was that nobody wants to hear songs about war. They want to hear songs about connection to people, and songs about love and life, songs that make them dance." It was legendary Island Records founder and Franti cohort, Chris Blackwell, who suggested that Kingston, Jamaica would provide the perfect backdrop for translating these impulses to tape. |
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Kingston sessions brought in the 'Riddim Twins' Sly and Robbie on
live drums and bass, percussionist Sticky Thompson along with Spearhead
bassist Carl Young and guitarist Dave Shul. The tracks were recorded
at Anchor Studios with Mario Caldato Jr and Robert Carranza (Beastie
Boys, Jack Johnson) engineering. Franti continued to write and record
upon his return home to San Francisco before handing mixing duties
over to Brian Malouf (Eric B, Ziggy Marley, Pearl Jam). Franti has always spoken his mind through his music: from his early punk rock band Beatnigs, to the industrial-noise of Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, to the conscious and soulful hip-hop of Spearhead. "In the past, we've touched on a lot of genres of music," Franti says, "but this is an album where all those things have been rolled into one. I feel this is our best record yet." Songs like Yell Fire! and Time To Go Home are calls to action: in the streets, at home, and in our own hearts. Other songs such as I Know I'm Not Alone, an uplifting blast of hope, One Step Closer To You featuring a soulful backing vocal by Pink, and the beautiful Is Love Enough featuring reggae star Gentleman, tap into the album's compassionate side. While seeing Yell Fire! to completion back in San Francisco, Franti began editing the hundreds of hours of footage from his travels in the Middle East. What emerged was an intimate telling of how war affects the individual: the cab driver, the soldier, the aspiring young musician. It was during this process that the film and album became inextricably linked. Franti recalls "My editing studio for the movie was upstairs and my recording studio was downstairs, so I would constantly alternate from one project to another. The process was like a catharsis for me, moving through this journey I had made." "[Michael Franti is in] the pantheon of political pop." ~ Boston Globe "The album blends Franti's hip-political-hop with Spearhead's body-moving funkadelica" ~ Paste Magazine |
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