Sons of Ra have long melded Chicago’s heavy, weird musical inclinations with deeply creative jazz fusion, but only rarely have they put it to tape. Four years after Cognitive, the band returns with a new EP, Tropic of Cancer, a striking mix of piercing and exploratory instrumental music. While the Tropic of Cancer is technically a geographical measurement on the Earth’s surface related to the Sun’s movement, Tropic of Cancer finds inspiration in life’s movements down here on Earth — founding member Erik Oldman relocated to Chicago in 1998 from Austin as he underwent treatment for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
There’s a reason that Sons of Ra remains a staple in the heavier side of Chicago’s music scene, often sharing bills with doom metal — they’re heavy in a way nobody else here is. On the spectrum of jazz to metal, Sons of Ra skew heavily toward jazz, but they incorporate their heavier influences in a way that feels natural. Whereas a lot of “jazz metal” music is either primarily metal with jazz as a texture, or just sounds like someone tossing a bucket of nails down a staircase, the trio make heavy tones and distortion feel at home against tightly syncopated grooves and expressive, unusual tonalities. They fill post-metal’s airy soundscapes with tight, but complicated motifs that layer and build into fascinating superpositions. Oldman’s lead playing, stemming from his long-built mastery of his instrument and theory, threads a crucial course through the record that weaves together curiosity and apprehension.
Today, we’re premiering a video performance of Part 1 of Tropic of Cancer, which notably features the core trio digging heavily into a groove that Oldman renders transcendental. Amidst images of life, death, and warm weather (notably absent in Chicago right now), the rhythm section lays down a hypnotic cadence that serves as a fertile bed for exploratory leads, punctuated at points by sudden crescendos. It’s a great introduction to what Sons of Ra provides: a particularly beguiling musical fusion you can’t find anywhere else.
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Oldman comments:
The main themes of the suite were written during winter of 1998 when I moved back to Chicago from Austin. I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and underwent chemotherapy and radiation for nine months. I had to give up my musical studies and performance for some time. Much of the emotional content behind the music deals with the immediate loss of identity and relationships when completely uprooting an entire life to move across country.
This is the genesis of the entire suite. My personal life at the time was in turmoil after getting my diagnosis. At the time I was making music in Austin, studying jazz and Afro-Cuban music. I uprooted my life and came back to Chicago to stay with family while undergoing medical treatment. The Latin music references sort of stuck, but as the piece evolved and as I started to get back out into the music scene in Chicago, the heavier sound influences crept in.
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Sons of Ra will self-release Tropic Of Cancer on 12” vinyl, CD, and digitally on April 19th. Preorders for all formats and merch are now available HERE, and digital presaves can be found HERE. Also watch the video for “Tropic Of Cancer Part III” HERE.
Upcoming Sons of Ra Live Dates:
- 3/17/2024 Reggies – Chicago, IL w/ Lower Automation, Graphics, Life Of Yum Yum
- 3/21/2024 TBA
- 3/22/2024 ROK Bar – St. Paul, MN w/ Jojo Green, Lulu & The Shoe, Cannakiss
- 3/23/2024 301’s Spring Showcast @ Crucible Madison – Madison, WI w/ The Unnecessary Gunpoint Lecture, Knifeback, more
- 4/20/2024 Liars Club – Chicago, IL *EP release show w/ We Killed The Lion, Human Trials, Dead Languages
- 5/04/2024 WZRD’s 50th Anniversary Bash @ Martyrs – Chicago, IL
- 5/24/2024 Bantha Tea Bar – Pittsburgh, PA w/ John Hardin
- 5/25/2024 Mulligans – Grand Rapids, MI w/ Flood The Desert, Apostles
