Tank and The Bangas

For Tank and the Bangas, music is a vessel for unbridled joy and transcendent connectionforces as integral to their essence as their wildly original sound. On their new album The Last Balloon, the New Orleans-bred outfit channel those impulses into something celebratory yet profoundly human, exploring themes of frustration, resilience, and self-realization with equal parts raw emotionality and playful exuberance. Executive-produced by their frequent collaborator Austin Brown (Jamila Woods, Masego), The Last Balloon offers up a suite of songs designed to thrive in Tank and the Bangas rapturous live set, where unified movement becomes crucial to the show itself.

Were known for a very interactive experience, so I wanted to get the fans more involved and have even more fun with the crowd, says Ball. Theres lots of gang vocals, handclaps, all these intentional moments to let everyone know, This is my part, but your parts coming up nextso get ready. A highly collaborative band whose past work has featured luminaries like Big Freedia, Questlove, and Jill Scott, Tank and the Bangas created The Last Balloon with the help of Iman Omari (a multifaceted musician whos worked with Kendrick Lamar and Mac Miller), pianist/producer Tane Runo (Brittany Howard, JID), esteemed soul singers Ledisi and Jelly Joseph, and many more.

The result: a party-ready extravaganza that provides both ecstatic catharsis and communal elevation. A. spot once home to Earth, Wind & Fire), The Last Balloon unfolds in a loosely woven storyline charting a journey from self-doubt and erasure to empowered self-reclamation.