A visual treatment for André 3000′s woodwind opus is coming to your home theater.
The artist released a trailer on social media and his YouTube channel for “Listening to the Sun,” a film accompaniment to André 3000′s first solo album, “New Blue Sun.”
Dubbed as “an intimate album film” and directed by surrealist filmmaker Terence Nance, “Listening to the Sun,” is set to premiere Aug. 29. In a trippy sneak peek, the OutKast emcee and aspiring experimental jazz flutist explains his thinking.
“We were trying to find a way to do a visual version of a listening party so more people could be involved in it, so people could be in their own environment, to be at home or with their family or in a quiet space,” he said.
“New Blue Sun” was released Nov. 17, 2023, and André 3000 has seemingly been on the road touring ever since. He did several sold-out dates in Atlanta during the album’s initial release last year. This year, he performed at the Atlanta Jazz Festival on his birthday.
He’s also set to close out a fall tour at the Fox Theatre this November.
Though the shows might be missing Andre rocking any ‘Kast hits, they’re not short on channeling rap’s greatest duo’s process to take creative risks. In that sense, “New Blue Sun,” in live show form, plays out like a jam session, with André 3000 typically flanked by bandmates Carlos Nino, Surya Botofasina, Nate Mercereau, and Deantoni Parks.
So, what can viewers expect for an at-home video version?
“Three Stacks” (Andre’s occasional nickname) and Nance — the guy behind “Random Acts of Flyness,” HBO’s experimental exploration of Blackness — collaborated on other creative video elements tied to “New Blue Sun.” Earlier this year, the two released a visual project inspired by the album, played on Imax screens nationwide for one night.
It’s not clear if “Listening to the Sun” is the same film, or a different version from what was screened in January.
In a conversation between the two men from the trailer, André 3000 talks about the yearslong process of concepting and honing in on a film idea.
Nance likens filmmaking to creating a jazz album in his response. “There’s so many kind of process notes from what we call jazz music that are in the cinema process,” he says.
In making “Listening to the Sun,” he was nervous. “It’s kind of like you’ve got a crew of people sitting there, watching this dude crawl around on the floor,” a voiceover reveals. “Like, what?”
Translation: expect a very André 3000 experience from this visual.
“Listening to the Sun,” will be available to stream at noon (ET). Details available on Andre’s YouTube channel.
Sign up for the UATL newsletter.
Read more stories like this by liking UATL on Facebook and following @itsUATL on X and Instagram.
“
