Just when we thought we'd seen every Star Wars-related tie-in possible, along comes Star Wars Headspace, a new electronic music compilation album that features compositions that were inspired by and contain samples from a galaxy far, far away.
Inevitably, there'll be some eye-rolling at what could be perceived as a cynical cash-in, but before you take to Facebook with your 'I have a bad feeling about this' joke, you should be aware that there's a fair bit of talent attached to the project, which has been confirmed on the Star Wars website.
To begin with, it's being executive-produced and curated by none other than Rick Rubin, and the cast of contributing producers includes Flying Lotus, who contributes R2 Where R U?, Röyksopp (Bounty Hunters) and Bonobo (Ghomrassen).
Galactic grooves
We're also looking forward to hearing Rustie's EWOK PUMPP and Breakbot's Star Tripper, while Rubin himself has contributed a track called NR-G7 and a rework of Jabba Flow, one of the tracks written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and J. J. Abrams (AKA Shag Kava) for The Force Awakens.
Flying Lotus appeared on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 show last night and discussed the project, saying that "I think all this kind of started with Rick Rubin. He hand picked all the people that he wanted to be a part of this thing. I'm just flattered to be involved in this thing but at the same time I feel like it makes so much sense - I feel real close to these sounds. I feel real close to the Star Wars Universe."
Apple Music has exclusives on three Star Wars Headspace tracks - Flying Lotus's R2 Where R U, Baauer's Cantina Boys and Rick Rubin's NR-G7 - and a full tracklisting is below. The album will be released on 19 February in digital formats and then in retail stores on 18 March.
Star Wars Headspace tracklisting
- 1. C-3P0's Plight - Kaskade
- 2. Help Me! - GTA
- 3. Force - TroyBoi
- 4. Cantina Boys - Baauer
- 5. Jabba Flow: Rick Rubin Re-Work (feat. A-Trak) - Shag Kava
- 6. R2 Knows (feat. Barry Drift) - Claude VonStroke
- 7. NR-G7 - Rick Rubin
- 8. Ghomrassen - Bonobo
- 9. Bounty Hunters - Röyksopp
- 10. Sunset Over Manaan - ATTLAS
- 11. R2 Where R U? - Flying Lotus
- 12. Druid Caravan of Smoke - Shlohmo
- 13. EWOK PUMPP - Rustie
- 14. Scruffy-Looking Nerfherder - Galantis
- 15. Star Tripper - Breakbot
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