Renowned hip hop producer Danger Mouse have let slip that he has finished a new folk influenced album with English singer Helena Costas.
Danger Mouse is one of the most in demand producers on the planet. After his ‘Grey Album’ mash up became a word of mouth smash on the internet the sonic guru unveiled his hugely successful Gnarls Barkley project.
Keen to keep his CV as diverse as possible, Danger Mouse. followed this with stints behind the mixing desk for Martina Topley Bird and The Shortwave Set. In addition to this the producer worked with The Black Keys on a new album, as well as a number of songs with the Ohio duo and sadly deceased rock pioneer Ike Turner.
However the producer’s most ambitious project may now never see the light of day. Combining an all star cast alongside multimedia elements, ‘Dark Night Of The Soul’ was axed earlier this year due to legal difficulties.
Amongst the artists who recorded parts of the album are Gruff Rhys, Strokes singer Julian Casablancas, Iggy Pop and many more. With David Lynch providing the visual elements and American group Sparklehorse providing production skills, this was one of the most talked about releases of the year.
Of course, that’s all irrelevant now. Pulled due to contract problems, Danger Mouse has set his sights on releasing an album with Helena Costas – which he claims he began working on in 2003.
“When I was working on the Gorillaz (‘Demon Days’) album, I spent some time in London, and I met up with her on the weekends,” he told the record label Domino.
He added: “Usually on Sundays (we’d rehearse). She brought some of her new ideas, and we recorded them in my apartment.”
Apparently the pair ditched an entire album’s worth of material as Costas’ songwriting ability was continually improving.
“We never really did release that first one,” he said. “There are a couple of songs, like ‘Jessie The Goat’, that survived. But she was really coming into her own style now, so we kept recording. Over the last couple of years, we put together this album.”
Settling on the name Joker’s Daughter the duo are set to release their debut album ‘The Last Laugh’ on June 15th.
Tracklisting is as follows:
‘Worm’s Head’
‘Jessie the Goat’
‘Go Walking’
‘Lucid’
‘JD Folk Blues’
‘The Last Laugh’
‘Under the Influence of Jaffa Cakes’
‘Jelly Belly’
‘Cake and July’
‘Nothing is Ever What it Seems’
‘The Running Goblin’
‘Chasing Ticking Crocodile’
‘Yellow T Pot’
