"I can see my name written across the sky," Raphael Saadiq sings on "Go To Hell," from his stunning new album, Stone Rollin', as a B3 organ swells, cymbals dance, and a fluttering string section spirals towards the heavens. "Victory is near... I can feel it getting closer, closer every day."

Stone Rollin' - written and produced by Saadiq, who also plays bass, mellotron, keys, guitar, percussion and even drums on most of the tracks -- is even more powerful, urgent and bold than on The Way I See It. The new songs are firmly planted in classic R&B, and nod to Saadiq's heroes like Chuck Berry, Stevie Wonder, Little Walter and Sly Stone. However Saadiq offers his own contemporary spin, one born out of a combination of his recent touring experiences, as well as inspiration derived from indie acts that hold regular rotation in his ipod.

Saadiq wrote the stomping opening track, "Heart Attack" while in France, inspired by Sly Stone jams like "Dance To the Music" and "M'Lady." Stone Rollin' features its share of special guests. Robert Randolph dropped by to lay down some nasty steel guitar on "Day Dreams." Saadiq opens the track, which is evocative of a Dixieland rag. Guesting on "Just Don't" is one of Saadiq's indie rock favorites, Swedish-Japanese singer Yukimi Nagano from the band Little Dragon. Raphael says, "on that song I also had the chance to play with one of my idols, Larry Dunn from Earth, Wind and Fire. He played piano and took a long, epic Moog solo." Another standout track on the collection is "Good Man," which brilliantly blends golden age Soul with a killer hip-hop hook, co-written and sung by upstart Taura Stinson.


Raphael Saadiq EPK from Columbia Records on Vimeo.





US Tour Dates
May 9 - Minneapolis, First Avenue
May 10 - New York, Webster Hall
May 16 - Boston, House of Blues Boston
May 18 - Atlanta, GA, Variety Playhouse
May 19 - Richmond, VA, Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens
May 20 - Philadelphia, PA, Non-Comm / WXPN
May 21 - W. Hampton Beach, NY, PAC
May 24 - Baltimore, MD, Rams Head Live!
May 25 - Washington DC, 9:30 Club
May 26 - Philadelphia, PA, Electric Factory
June 02 - Detroit, MI, Saint Andrew’s Hall
June 03 - Chicago, IL, Park West
June 04 - Minneapolis, MN, Cabooze on the West Bank
June 08 - Austin, TX, Stubbs