New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Company Freak) International dance music outfit COMPANY FREAK has released its first official single "ANDRÉ LEON TALLEY" on April 16th 2013. A dance-floor anthem celebrating individualism and self-pride, the buoyant tune doubles as an homage to fabulous fashion superstar André Leon Talley, the former editor-at-large of Vogue and America's Next Top Model television personality. The single is released on new indie label Superlatude, and it's currently digitally distributed on online portals like Amazon, iTunes and Spotify.
Company Freak's catchy dance pop and sophisticated songcraft is a throwback to 1970s orchestral disco soul and 1980s post-disco, when bands like Chic, Change, Kool and the Gang, Boney M, Kid Creole and the Coconuts, and
Midnight Star first made their potent mark. Mixed by Eric Broucek (LCD Soundsystem, Sam Sparro) and engineered by Alex Nizich (Hercules and Love Affair, Antony and the Johnsons), Company Freak's retro pop recalls the freewheeling sound of Studio 54 and the Paradise Garage just as much as it recalls the glistening nu-disco of contemporary bands like
Scissor Sisters and Daft Punk. With a revolving multi-generational cast of vocalists and session players—a surprise return of actual dance music legends from the 1970s and 1980s performing alongside up-and-coming 21st century stars—Company Freak is its own unique superband.
Producer, musician, DJ, journalist and scholar JASON KING is the anchor behind Company Freak: he writes, arranges and produces all of the band's original material. The chief architect of impresario Clive Davis' innovative undergraduate music program at New York University and the former manager to electronica wizard Jimmy Edgar (Azealia Banks, Theophilus London), King is no stranger to great dance music. "The idea for Compay Freak came a couple of years ago," he recalls, "when I was living in Asia and getting inspired again by global dance music. I basically grew up on disco; that was when music on the radio had arrangement, structure, drama, sophistication, and style. I wanted to recapture that sound that initially inspired me."
King drew on the talents of his world-class musician friends in the US, the Middle East, Africa, and
Europe to develop the sound for Company Freak's debut project. "For me, disco was always international. I'm thinking of the music of artists like Manu Dibango, Cerrone, Giorgio Moroder. So the sound of Company Freak has that authentic cosmopolitan element to it. It's global."
King discusses the inspirational lyric of Company Freak's debut single "André Leon Talley" as follows: "I think one of the most important gifts you can give yourself in this life is to be unapologetically and proudly yourself at every moment, at every turn, with everyone in your life. André Leon Talley seems to be one of those people. He's such a memorable and unique celebrity, and far as I can tell, he seems to have always been 100% authentic and honest about himself at every given moment. He never seems like he's trying to be someone he's not. So though I've never met him, André seems like a cultural hero who deserves to be celebrated, especially at a time when the whole world seems to be fighting for recognition and equal rights."
Vocals on "André Leon Talley": Shayna Steele (Rihanna, NBC's Smash), Melissa Musique (Chrisette Michelle,
Jessie J.) and Jason King himself on falsetto duties. Instrumentalists include bassist Steve
Styles (Alicia Keys, Demi Lovato), keyboardist John Stanley (Patti Labelle, Luther Vandross), drummer Gintas Janusonis (Ultra Naté, Masters at Work), and horn players Casey
Benjamin (Robert Glasper Experience) and Kenyatta Beasley (Prince, Lauryn Hill). The witty promotional video for "André Leon Talley," posted on Company Freak's YouTube channel, features a stream of hilarious clips of the eccentric fashion legend, edited to the beat.
Company Freak's first EP drops later this summer, and the debut full-length album is slated for release by the end of the year.
Band site www.companyfreak.com
Twitter @companyfreak
