The critically acclaimed and award-winning instrumental recording duo, Hot Mustard, is proud to announce their forthcoming sophomore album, Seconds, which is scheduled for release March 31st, 2023 (Color Red). Featured in Relix's '5 Artists You Should Know About', Glide Magazine and Jazz Weekly, plays on KCRW and KUTX and taking home the Charleston City Paper Music Award for "Up and Coming Artist of the Year" in their hometown, HM has begun to turn heads with their clever quality of audio/visual creation. In reverence of golden era boom bap hip-hop/60s/early 70s funk/soul and library style music, the duo has drawn an eclectic variety of comparisons, from Daptone to DJ Shadow, Pete Rock to Keith Mansfield, Ennio Morricone to Portishead - and none of it feels entirely unwarranted as they’ve continued to meticulously carve out a sound that feels familiar enough to invoke nostalgia but also contains the depth to conjure intriguing new worlds. The Seconds album is laced with intricate brass work by Jordan McLean (Antibalas) and Dave "Smoota" Smith (TV on the Radio) and features two stellar guest appearances by virtuoso cellist Helen Gillet of New Orleans, a healthy dose of Hammond organ by the talented Ross Bogan (Doom Flamingo, Lureto) and a special vocal performance by Alanna Royale (Colemine Records).
"The End of Time," the fourth and final single, features the brilliant Alanna Royale, who adds a dash of soulful spice to the Hot Mustard jar by delivering a short but stirring vocal performance. The skillful organ chops of Ross Bogan carry the track vigilantly to a bittersweet ending, closing out the sophomore album in exceptional style, cementing another inspiring work of art into the Hot Mustard catalog.
The animated music video was created by band member Jack Powell (Opus Thimble), whose visuals are best described as truly sui generis, sometimes drawing comparisons to Terry Gilliam (Monty Python). "The End of Time" becomes available to all major streaming services on March 10th, 2022.
"Parts of the video are in tribute to a canine friend of the Hot Mustard family who tragically passed in the thick of the song's creation," says Powell. "There are obvious themes like the universally shared experience in the unstoppable march of time, life, death, mortality, rebirth, but I think that it's also ambiguous enough to carry a multitude of meanings to viewers who choose to relate it to their own personal experience. That's the aspect of art that I love the most, that interpretations of art can be as uniquely personal as art itself."
