Album Review: André 3000 – New Blue Sun

By Rosie Burgess | December 9, 2023

Words by James Mellen

When André 3000 announced his long-awaited return, the hip-hop world fell into a frenzy, anticipating a record of rich production and bars akin to his work with Outkast and notable feature work, like that verse on Frank Ocean’s Blonde. However, an instrumental ambient record was not on anyone’s bingo card for the legendary artist. New Blue Sun is a 90-minute expanse of ambient texture and woodwind which lay the foundation for the record and replace hard-hitting rap production with gentle beds of sound.

The track titles here are worth a smirk, albeit ridiculous, and the quality of music is high – though it doesn’t do much to stand out in the high-quality world of ambient music, a genre that has taken a massive leap back into consciousness over the last few years. Delicate flute work takes centre stage in New Blue Sun with lives a rarely changing dream state. There are, however, some truly stunning moments cutting through plenty of slow-burn passages. Though we may never receive another hip-hop record from André, this record is a welcomed mediative turn in his discography, and his back catalogue isn’t going anywhere just yet.

8/10