Joe Satriani has unleashed Pumpin', a funk-a-thon of a new single taken from his forthcoming 19th studio album, The Elephants of Mars.
Described by Satch as a “high energy, funky celebration about the visceral side of being alive,” Pumpin' is packed to the rafters with groovy basslines, clean electric guitar stabs and, of course, plenty of high-gain leads from guitar music's resident shred lord. Check it out below.
Pumpin' deviates somewhat from the expansive feel-driven shred of the first two singles from The Elephants of Mars – Sahara and Faceless – with some bluesy stylings and the odd whammy bar-fueled squeal.
Satriani says he hopes The Elephants of Mars will “show people that an instrumental guitar album can contain far more creative and entertaining elements than people are using right now”.
The ethos of the album was to create a “new standard” for guitar-based instrumental music, as Satch explains. “We did everything,” he says. “We tried the craziest idea. And we entertained every notion we had abut turning something backwards, upside down, seeing what could happen.”
He adds that this provided all musicians involved the chance to “take liberties”, and “share a side of themselves they hadn't previously been able to”.
The Elephants of Mars follows 2020's Shapeshifting, which featured tracks including Nineteen Eighty, Big Distortion and All My Friends Are Here.
