Free Radicals, a musical, political, and cultural force in Houston for over two decades, announce highly anticipated new album White Power Outage Volume 2. The 25-track project is the follow up to volume 1, named “Local Album of the Year” in the Houston Chronicle, and continues their quest to put an end to white supremacy.
Free Radicals’ White Power Outage Volume 1 (2020) made waves with the press, radio, and fans through its diverse sound and beautiful mix of vocalists and musicians representing shades of Black, LatinX, white, Asian, mixed, and indigenous people that make the up the culture of Houston Texas. They came together to make revolutionary music, and to demand an end to the white supremacy in the arts, culture, politics, the economy, and in their personal lives. The album received critical praise from the Houston Press, Black Grooves, and Bandcamp Daily, which called it, “…a defiant soundtrack to our turbulent times, penned in solidarity with the victims of state-sponsored violence and systemic oppression."
Free Radicals have been working on beats for the White Power Outage series for many years before COVID hit. Nick Cooper of the band explains, “As we were wrapping up volume 1, Black Lives Matter was in the streets, and we were collaborating with rappers, singers, and poets of color around the world, all experiencing the pandemic, recording, and white supremacy differently. By the time volume 1 was named “Local Album of the Year” in the Houston Chronicle, we were already in the middle of producing volume 2. The band has been rehearsing and recording on each other’s lawns, or in parks. We started recording every rehearsal and quickly cut up and looped, and sent to our collaborators to start writing for it.” The result for Volume 2 is another batch of 20 plus songs featuring a revolutionary spirit and performed on real acoustic instruments. Every Free Radicals album includes a rich mix of sax, trumpet, trombone, bass, guitar, percussion, and tuba without ever using MIDI.
The genre-bending compilation is packed full of highlights. Leading up to the album, Free Radicals released their single “Bipartisan Baby Jail” featuring Michele Thibeaux, Henry Alvarez and Karina Nistal. The single also includes 4 year old kids from Peace Camp Houston and combines singing, rap, and poetry over funk. Mutiny On The Bayou features one of Houston’s longest standing and best rappers, D-Ology, and rips open the suppressed history of Houston's 1917 massacre of Black soldiers. Checkpoint / Dompass / Hajiz sees Lindi Yeni expressing her lifetime of experience with human rights and South African apartheid to this track. Yeni is joined by Jitsvinger, EQuality, and Prince Alfarra. On Killer Bee Honey, the Next Generation, Cherria Rattler enlists her daughter Marium to re-record and expand on the track originally recorded by Cherria 22 years ago, protesting the destruction of the planet by shortsighted and greedy men. Other highlights include the Karina Nistal led “El Ritmo Contra Gitmo,” “Pokke Koebês” by Jitsvinger who nails white conquest of South Africa in Afrikaans, Karega Ani’s poem “Crystal Stare,” and instrumental track “Manifestación En El Centro Hoy.” These are just a few examples from their thought provoking politically charged album!
Free Radicals are proud to release their new album White Power Outage Volume 2 on April 8th. Come celebrate with the Free Radicals on April 30th at the Continental Club in Houston, TX. More info at https://continentalclub.com/houston#event=70661390;instance=20220430190000.
ONLINE:
· Website: freerads.com
· Instagram: Instagram.com/freeradicalsband
· Facebook: facebook.com/freerads
· Youtube: https://youtube.com/user/freeradsmusic
