In November 2024, I got an email that my favourite band, Snarky Puppy, would be recording their next album, Somni, in January 2025 in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Snarky Puppy is quite unique in the way that they record their music, as they almost always do so with a live audience surrounding them, creating a very intimate and immersive experience. To top it off, they also release a music video on YouTube, created purely from footage of their live recording sessions. I’d already seen them perform live several times before in Montreal, Boston, San Francisco, and Oakland, but being a part of that communal experience of being the first in the world to enjoy their brand new music was something that I couldn’t pass up—especially because they were teaming up again with Jules Buckley and the Metropole Orkest for the first time since their collaboration on their Sylva album in 2015. I loved the rich and full sound that they were able to produce on that album by playing with a full orchestra, and couldn’t wait to experience that sound live.

The show was absolutely one-of-a-kind. The priority for the musicians was of course recording the music in as neutral a way as possible, to provide a range of options for production later, but everyone was given headphones to wear and someone was mixing the instruments for us live. Being so immersed with the musicians as they executed their craft was truly special.

Anyway, all that to say—the band has released the first song from the album, Waves Upon Waves, as a single. The recording isn’t from our session (there were 6 recording sessions over 3 days), but who knows—I might pop up in one of the other videos when the full album releases in November.

musictravelutrechtnetherlands