Photo: Brent Waterworth

Teebs (a.k.a Mtendere Mandowa) will return with his first album in five years next month, titled Anicca.​

The release, out via Brainfeeder, features a host of Teebs’ musical friends including ​Panda Bear (Animal Collective), Sudan Archives, Ringgo Ancheta (a.k.a Mndsgn), Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Anna Wise, daydream Masi, Former Boy, Pink Siifu, Jimetta Rose, and Thomas Stankiewicz. It’s said to fuse Teebs’ “signature bright and fluid productions with the grounded and colorful elements of his collaborators.”

Reflecting on his five-year hiatus from releasing music, Teebs says: “It feels like it [the music] comes from a different place now. My inspiration to work has changed and my choices with it. I’ve explored more with what tools and instruments I used and tried to be more open to collaboration.”

Much of the album’s inspiration comes from Teebs’ family. “My daughter was born the year after ‘Estara’ and taking time to watch her grow meant everything to me…,” he explains. “Also my relationships with my wife, mother, brother, and the friends around me, and the mistakes I’ve made through my life have all inspired Anicca.”

Teebs also cites the American poet David Antin and his 1976 work “Talking at the Boundaries” as a notable read and a quote about art, nature, and form from Hans Arp’s “Notes from a Dada Diary” that struck a chord with him during the making of the record.

As for the title, Anicca, it describes the impermanence of all being in Buddhism. “It’s a reminder to myself that nothing is permanent,” Teebs says.

Teebs created the artwork for Anicca just as he has done for his previous albums. “I’m using the two disciplines [music and art] together to explore the worlds of communication and semi abstractions,” he explains. The artwork for Anicca started as a drawing about his wife and mother and evolved into an enamel pin that transformed again as he collaborated with his friend Megan Geer-Alsop to make a stained glass replica. That work later got photographed and digitally enhanced to make the cover.

Tracklisting

01. Black Dove (feat. Sudan Archives)
02. Shells
03. Threads (feat. Anna Wise)
04. Studie (feat. Panda Bear)
05. Mirror Memory
06. Prayers I
07. Prayers ii
08. Universe (feat. Daydream Masi)
09. Marcel
10. Mmntm (feat. Ringgo Ancheta and Former Boy)
11. Daughter Callin’ (feat. Pink Siifu)
12. Slumber
13. Muted (feat. Thomas Stankiewicz)

Anicca is out on limited edition purple/black marbled vinyl LP, standard black LP, CD, and digital formats on October 25 via Brainfeeder. Meanwhile, you can stream Studie (feat. Panda Bear) in full below.