Sam Herring of Future Islands has teamed up with legendary producer Madlib to deliver a spitfire of a new project. Working under the moniker Trouble Knows Me, the two will release a 12-inch LP on September 1 via Madlib Invasion.
This is far from Herring’s first foray into rap. When he’s not performing with the much-loved indie festival faves, he actually raps under the moniker Hemlock Ernst – and judging by the skills displayed in this video, he’s pretty damn good at it. Madlib is also one of the most prolific producer/collaborators around, having worked under a whole myriad pseudonyms with the biggest and brightest in hip hop and hip hop production, including MF DOOM, J Dilla, Talib Kweli and Freddie Gibbs.
Side A will contain three rap tracks + three instrumentals, while Side B will exclusively feature the rap track instrumentals. The beautiful cover art was designed by Gustavo Eandi and Jeff Jank and printed by Hit & Run. Interestingly, the cover itself is designed to be a unique piece of art, with about 15-20 hand-printed variations of the original. Records are stamp-numbered on the back cover.
The track list for the album is available below, as well as one song from the upcoming LP, which is also the project’s namesake as well Trouble Knows Me. It’s a sensuous and soulful track marked by Herring’s unmistakable guttural vocal ability, as well as showcasing his excellent rapping abilities, while sampling portions of Sunny & the Sunliners Should I Take You Home.
Side A:
- Intro (Sensuous Cause)
- Streetsweeper
- Trouble Knows Me
- Interlude (Vision Incomplete)
- Celebrity Vision
- Outro (Drums & Loops)
Side B:
Instrumentals of side A.
You can pre-order the track at Rappcats, although stocks are limited due to the highly personalised quality of each record.