Mandoki Soulmates to Release New Studio Album 'A Memory Of Our Future' in May

Mandoki Soulmates – the international and inter-generational supergroup consisting of rock and fusion grandmasters surrounding founder and mastermind Leslie Mandoki – proudly announce their new album, A Memory Of Our Future, to be released worldwide on May 10th via Sony Music's label InsideOutMusic. Pre-Order A Memory Of Our Future here.  

The group celebrates the announcement with the release of a new single and video, Blood In The Water. 

A Memory Of Our Future is Mandoki Soulmates' latest work of art and nothing short of an instant prog-rock classic, bringing world-class musicianship and composition together with trenchant social and political messaging. The entire album was recorded and produced purely in the analog domain, from microphone to mixing and mastering, making A Memory Of Our Future a manifesto of precision and passion that is hard to find in today's music landscape.

Recorded and mixed in Leslie Mandoki's Red Rock Studios near Munich, mastered in the infamous Sterling Sound Studios in New York and cut in the Emil Berliner Studios in Berlin, the Soulmates are also making a statement as a kind of “revenge of the analog” in times of digital deception, scam bots, and internet trolls. The analog format is also an expression of their special appreciation and bond with the band's audience, “like a love letter handwritten with a fountain pen”.    

Mandoki continues, “The hyper-emotionalization of  news in social media delivers outrage instead of information, intentionally triggering waves of over-excitement and manufactured conflicts. Without fact-checking, where can we find the truth among all the ‘alternative facts,' lies and AI-generated propaganda? This has yielded a deep crisis of trust that is being exploited by the populists and demagogues of the world. Despite their seemingly obvious fallacies and contradictions, the people in their bubbles actually believe them. Rational, civil discourse rarely takes place, and without the sensible exchange of ideas we are left with a festering breeding ground for insecurity, hate and division.”      

With the 12 new tracks on A Memory Of Our Future, the band hangs a beacon of light at the end of the depressing tunnel of today, and remind us that rock music has always sung for freedom in peace and for peace in freedom.

The album announcement comes with a new single called Blood In The Water, which has it all: a pulsating beat, a catchy hook, and that ineffable prog-rock spirit that appeals to heart and mind simultaneously. The single is an anthem for resilience in the face of a shark tank's-worth of daunting challenges. It encourages those who dare to resist conformity and courageously to look ahead; it issues a call to be different and join a movement of resistance.   With virtuosic solos from Ian Anderson's inimitable flute and Cory Henry's searing Hammond organ, Blood In The Water's powerful lyrical message is delivered with insistent passion from vocalists Leslie Mandoki, Nick van Eede (Cutting Crew), Tony Carey, and Jesse Siebenberg (Supertramp).

Watch Blood In The Water here:

The song reflects Mandoki's vision of building bridges among disparate groups using progressive jazz-rock and incisive lyrics to comment on the social challenges of our time, to inspire the aspirational, pointing toward a utopia for realists.  

Reflecting with some chagrin, Mandoki states, “The dreams of my generation lie in ruins today. After 1989, we had such a wonderful, historic opportunity to create a mindful, humane, peaceful, and absolutely free world for future generations. But we blew it. Driven by egotism and greed, we have inadvertently enabled the creation of a world where money itself makes profit faster than human labor, no matter the value-added proposition. This devaluation and commodification of people's work has also led to the disregard for sustainability, both economically and environmentally, yielding a climate of social imbalance, inequity, and unrest. This division and radicalization, as we have unfortunately and painfully learned, has even led to war. And so, I sing that there is ‘blood in the water.' Far too much blood in the water.”  

He adds about the meaning of the black swan on the album cover: “Blood In The Water as a song presents our contemporary situation as a labyrinth of crises in a world without a compass, where unifying and stabilizing movements in society have crumbled. The dreaded ‘black swan' has landed. It sits on our album cover as a symbol of our times, in which reality outstrips our worst fears with previously unimaginable tragic scenarios. We must stay vigilant, as we sing: you better keep an eye open, if you fall asleep...”  

Mandoki Soulmates are:   Leslie Mandoki Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) Mike Stern Al di Meola Randy Brecker Till Brönner Bill Evans John Helliwell (Supertramp) Cory Henry Richard Bona Steve Bailey Simon Phillips (Toto) Tony Carey (Rainbow) Nick van Eede (Cutting Crew) Jesse Siebenberg (Supertramp) Mark Hart (Supertramp).

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