Dopapod Releases New Single 'Black Holes' From Upcoming Self-Titled Album

Progressive journeymen Dopapod have released their new single "Black Holes," the third single offering from their forthcoming self-titled studio album.

Filled with infectious grooves and layered with mind-bending lyrics the likes of, "Neurons linking, eyes are blinking, mind imprinting, thoughts keep thinking theoretically, gravitation explanation parabolic acceleration hypothetically" the track also comes equipped with an uplifting chorus that echoes, "all for one, and one for all, you'll never fly til you learn to fall into black holes."

Keyboardist and sometimes sharer of vocal duties Eli Winderman elaborates on the message behind the music, "It's a song about not giving up and thinking creatively to achieve the desired outcome. All for one and one for all is another concept that we try to tap into with improvising as well. The main focus is on the group to achieve moments of unity."

The video for "Black Holes" directed by Curtis Peel draws on the ideas of space and time travel, themes ever-present in Dopapod's music, intertwined with performance shots accentuated by colorful post-production work, capturing the essence of the band both on recordings and in the live setting. The new release comes on the heels of recent single releases "Think" and "Grow" which boast an expanding sonic range with equally holistic lyrical themes, and set in motion a compendium animated short film project created with partners Tandem Media that is being released episodically.

After nearly a decade of developing their craft, the quartet-Eli Winderman [keys, vocals], Rob Compa [guitar, vocals], Chuck Jones [bass], and Neal "Fro" Evans [drums]-consciously present albums as experiences, meant to be shared out of your speakers, on stage and now in new interactive mediums such as the film project and the tabletop game created for this new album.

With musical influences that range widely from metal to jazz and americana, and drawing inspiration from artists like Medeski Martin & Wood to Pink Floyd, Dopapod has created their own hypnotic hybrid of funk, rock, jazz, bluegrass, and electronica. Their ability to access a heightened level of cosmic harmony in their music bloomed brilliantly on 2009's Radar, and continued to blossom on the following albums Never Odd Or Even [2014] and Megagem [2017].

Along the way, fan favorites such as "Present Ghosts" (2.4 million) and "Mucho" (1.7 million) raised their hand and garnered millions of streams on Spotify, and 2019's studio offering Emit Time arrived at acclaim from Guitar World, Relix, Glide, Jambase, and more. Simultaneously, they sold out headline gigs and repeatedly graced the bills of hallmark festivals such as Electric Forest, Summer Camp, High Sierra, and Bonnaroo, where Rolling Stone named them among the festival's "best-kept secrets."

The band took a year-plus hiatus to realign and re-energize before making a "soft return," which was then cut short by the pandemic. "The hiatus allowed us to redefine ourselves, and carry on with a lot of new energy. It was a restorative opportunity and helped us move forward," says drummer Neal Evans.

"We definitely came back with new energy and new intention." The time off and forced isolation of the pandemic ushered in a laser-sharp focus on new material that included picking up the threads of a "concept catalog," first introduced on Never Odd Or Even. The focus of this concept brought the music full circle in what would be the 11 tracks on Dopapod, the band's seventh album due out on May 27th.

Watch the new music video for the track here: