Non-Secure Connection LP

Non-Secure Connection follows the release of 2019’s acclaimed album, Absolute Zero, which The New York Times praised as “one more daring, rewarding turn in his catalog: 10 knotty, thoughtful yet rambunctious songs that juggle scientific concepts, history and human relationships.” NPR Music declared, “Far from a conventional Hornsby album, Absolute Zero is the sound of an artist subverting expectations and pulling it off brilliantly. At this point in his career, Hornsby could easily coast on writing cozy songs and settling for that. Thankfully for us, he’s still up for an adventure.” Pitchfork furthered, “Hornsby plays with elegance…It’s a confidence that arrives with both comfort and age and it’s what unifies all the disparate elements of Absolute Zero, shaping the album into a testament to the full range of Hornsby’s gifts.”

Hornsby’s music changed when he started having the genesis of his songs be from film music. Through composing for writer and director Spike Lee, Hornsby would often feel that the certain atmospheric quality of a “cue” he’d written should be developed into a song. About this unique approach, Hornsby notes, “It takes my music to a place that I like that sets it apart from other things I’ve done. I’m often looking to make a sound that I haven’t heard before and find a place in what I guess is the context of popular song for some new information.” Hornsby’s continued growth as a musician enables him to build upon and explore new musical techniques. On Non-Secure Connection, he’s created something different that touches on a broad range of themes, from civil rights to computer hackers, mall salesmen and the Darwinian aspects of AAU basketball.

“The new album’s chromaticism and dissonance quotient is exactly twice as high (three songs featuring that language compared to one and a half on the last record),” says Hornsby of Non-Secure Connection. “I feel like my music has never been a part of any trend that defined any era of music during my 34 years of doing this. I may be wrong, but that’s how it feels to me.”

Predominantly produced by Hornsby, the 10-track album includes added production from Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Brad Cook (Sharon Van Etten, Hiss Golden Messenger) Wayne Pooley (Bon Iver, Jack DeJohnette) and Tony Berg (Phoebe Bridgers, Andrew Bird, Aimee Mann), who Hornsby credits as the album’s “aesthetician and ombudsman.” Non-Secure Connection also includes musical contributions from Mercer, Vernon, Jamila Woods, Leon Russell, Vernon Reid, Rob Moose & Hideaki Aomori of yMusic, The Orchestra of St. Hanks (Frost School/Univ. of Miami), Hornsby’s longtime band The Noisemakers and more. The tracks “Non-Secure Connection” and “Porn Hour” were co-written with Chip deMatteo while “Bright Star Cast” was inspired by with James Weldon Johnson’s “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” and “Anything Can Happen” was co-written with Russell, who appears thanks to a demo that he and Hornsby recorded together more than 25 years ago.

Tracklist

1. Cleopatra Drones
2. Time, The Thief
3. Non-Secure Connection
4. The Rat King (featuring Rob Moose)
5. My Resolve (with James Mercer)
6. Bright Star Cast (featuring Jamila Woods and Vernon Reid)
7. Shit’s Crazy Out Here
8. Anything Can Happen (featuring Leon Russell)
9. Porn Hour
10. No Limits