Chris St. Hilaire reconnects with Trinidadian roots on new cinematic album Enspirited
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NEW YORK, NY – In his debut full-length release titled Enspirited, set for release on October 9th, Trinidadian-American songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Chris St. Hilaire scores a playful and complex body of music, one that is abundant and diverse in sound, and true to his cultural background. “I very intentionally wanted to make something that was really fun to listen to, but also very musical,” says St. Hilaire.
Enspirited is undoubtedly Chris St. Hilaire’s most substantial step forward as an orchestrator, and he succeeds at integrating the world community in this new body of music. Influenced by everything from Soca and Sudanese music to Jamaican dub and Lollywood, St. Hilaire brings many cultures together all while balancing the varying musical tastes. “I wanted this album to be cinematic and to think of things in terms of all the different voices of an orchestra, and bring them into a folkloric, cultural, and danceable statement,” says St. Hilaire.
In writing and recording music that has a tradition to it, St. Hilaire is keenly aware of the origins, the ancestors that have lived through the birth of these sounds, and understands how he is merely a vessel in sharing these sounds. The synergy between folkloric and modern experimental sounds that he introduces in this new album breathes life into the tradition and offers a unique musical interpretation. It’s a collaborative effort and one that achieves this level of sound by remaining open to exploring the possibilities of melding cultures.
The new album builds on the steel pan-forward EP titled B.C. that St. Hilaire released in 2021 and signals another opportunity to build a community around the national instrument of Trinidad. “As a solo record, I wanted this to be more of a community collaboration, and to me the steel pan represents that,” says St. Hilaire of the leading instrument.
Enspirited is an intensely scored manifesto, composed of Trinidadian-inspired percussion, steel pan melodies, modern synthesizers, strings, and woodwinds. It’s fun, thoughtful, and intricately complex all at the same time. All songwriting, production, and engineering on the album was completed by St. Hilaire himself – an enormous step forward for him as a multifaceted artist.
All proceeds from Enspirited, whose release coincides with Indigenous Peoples’ Day, will go towards the Manna-hatta Fund, a New York City-based initiative working to help break the legacy of land theft and violence in the United States by redistributing funds to Native American communities through a voluntary land tax.
Chris St. Hilaire
Enspirited
Release Date: October 9, 2023
Formats: Digital download, streaming
Track Listing:
Invocation
Coconut Chutney
From Port of Spain to Port Sudan
JP’s Dub
Colonial Conundrum
Parangalang
Papisho Dub
Pan for Peace
Happy Land (after Invader)
The Trickster
Normal Isn’t So Nice
Dubbles
Bloodsucker Dub
Ruby Topaz
For more information visit www.chrissthilaire.com
For all inquiries, please contact:
Nick Gunther
Cleotone Entertainment
nick@cleotone.com