Brent Birckhead, the multi-instrumentalist, producer, arranger, and composer, presents CACAO — an album that chronicles his journey of expansion and self-reclamation. Indeed, this 9-track sophomore release serves as a testament to his evolution as both an artist and a person.

Born amidst the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, CACAO reached completion as societies around the globe emerged from their collective hibernation. Four years after his eponymous solo debut, this harmonious masterpiece represents Birckhead’s courageous decision to forge a new path guided by the rhythmic beat of his heart.

It is an album engineered to inspire those brave enough to create their own road as they walk it, and Birckhead ensures that the path he has paved is impossibly smooth.

1. There’s Salt in the Honey (3:47)
2. Cacao (6:27)
3. Ging Gang Gong Goong (4:47)
4. Jodeci (feat. Corey Wallace) (4:28)
5. Headspace (feat. Theljon Allen) (6:09)
6. Cold Fried Chicken (4:38)
7. Who is it? Who it is!! (feat. Christie Dashiell, Mark Meadows) (5:45)
8. Late Breakfast (1:50)
9. Skyline (feat. Christie Dashiell, Renaissance Mic, Christian) (4:14)

This simply divine new recording opens on the luxuriant There’s Salt in the Honey and the rich, velvety funk of the titular Cacao and then we get the ambient Ging Gang Gong Goong and the rhythmically-stuttered brilliance of Jodeci (feat. Corey Wallace).

Up next is the dutiful hipsway found within Headspace (feat. Theljon Allen) and the grooved funk lines return on Cold Fried Chicken, and they are then backed by the streamlined beauty within Who is it? Who it is!! (feat. Christie Dashiell, Mark Meadows), the album closing on the aural decadence of the short, but sweet Late Breakfast, closing on the soaring Skyline (feat. Christie Dashiell, Renaissance Mic, Christian).

Musicians:
Brent Birckhead - Sop, Alto, Tenor saxophones, Sop and Alto flutes, bass clarinet and synthesizers
Mark Meadows - Piano and Fender Rhodes
Romeir Mendez - acoustic and electric bass
CV Dashiell lll - Drums
DeAnte Haggerty-Willis - Guitar (track 2 and 9)
Matvei Sigalov - Guitar (track 3)
Corey Wallace - track 4
Theljon Allen - trumpet and Flugelhorn (track 5)
Renaissance Mic - MC
Christian - MC
Christie Dashiell - Vocals (Track 7 and 9)

www.brentbirckhead.com