Lettuce Announces New Album 'Unify' & Shares Single
Listen to "Gravy Train," the lead single from the upcoming record.
by Scott Bernstein
Lettuce. Courtesy Image
Funk stalwarts Lettuce detailed Unify, a new studio album due out on June 3. The sextet previewed the 16-song collection today by premiering its lead single, "Gravy Train."
Lettuce recorded Unify at Colorado Sound Studios in Denver, the same facility where they recorded 2019's Elevate and 2020's Resonate. The band - consisting of drummer Adam Deitch, saxophonist Ryan Zoidis, guitarist Adam 'Shmeeans' Smirnoff, trumpeter Eric "Benny" Bloom, bassist Erick "Jesus" Coomes and keyboardist Nigel Hall - self-produced Unify with Jesse O'Brien engineering the sessions.
Work on Unify dates back to the Elevate sessions as Lettuce prepped songs for both the 2019 LP and Resonate as well as some tracks that will finally get released on the new record. Those tunes and other material was fully fleshed out in the studio after the members spent time writing and doing pre-production from their respective homes while locked down due to COVID.
"Dealing with the pandemic, being in separate places, trying to survive without our best friends, without touring, not to mention the political divide in this country, we really needed to unify," explained Deitch. "This album came together at a time when we were away from each other longer than we had been in years," added Zoidis.
Guests on Unify include legendary Parliament Funkadelic bassist Bootsy Collins on vocals for "Keep That Funk Alive," acclaimed Dumpstaphunk bassist Nick Daniels on "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" and Berklee professor Jeff Lockhart on guitar for "The Lock."
Lettuce will soon begin a world tour in support of Unify and fans can expect plenty of new material. "Our audiences are going to hear how we end up interpreting these songs for the first time, in the live form, and then for the 300th time; they'll get to hear right along with us how the songs will morph and evolve," noted Shmeeans. "We're just getting tighter and tighter. Really, these are the first records made with the six of us as a team, and it's the best the band has ever been: live and in the studio; the funkiest and the most fun," exclaimed Coomes.
Meters-esque single "Gravy Train" is out now to give listeners the first taste of Unify. "'Gravy Train' just has that classic Lettuce vibe," added Smirnoff. "It's one of those songs that's timeless and could have shown up on any of our first albums. This one is for the OG Lettuce Heads."
Watch the official visual for Lettuce's "Gravy Train" below:
Unify Tracklist
01. RVA Dance (5:42) 02. Keep that Funk Alive ft. Bootsy Collins (4:21) 03. Waffles (6:20) 04. Everything's Gonna Be Alright ft. Nick Daniels (3:33) 05. 'Lude 1 (0:29) 06. Hawk's Claw (5:33) 07. The Lock ft. Jeff Lockhart (5:06) 08. Vamonos (5:52) 09. Change the World (4:26) 10. 'Lude 2 (0:30) 11. Gravy Train (6:00) 12. Shine (5:50) 13. Get It Together (4:39) 14. 'Lude 3 (0:29) 15. Lett The World Know (5:19) 16. Insta-Classic (6:35)
