Animative: Exospheric Blue Coloured Vinyl LP

Label: International Anthem
Release Date: 27th March

As masterful a coming together of jazz and electronic you will be likely to find in 2026. Josh Johnson is a composer, producer, saxophonist and synthesist who pulls his disciplines into a world where it hard bops like classic jazz but breaths in the digital world, it reverberates with life and machine with a unique sound that feels comfortingly familiar.

Animative is new work by composer, producer, saxophonist and synthesist Josh Johnson (SML, Jeff Parker ETA IVtet, Flea and The Honora Band), his third album under his own name, and his first for International Anthem/Nonesuch.

The album further advances Johnson deep into a territory he has been exploring for years: live-processed electro-acoustic takes on deconstructed rhythmic jazz.

The ten track album – co-produced by Johnson and Paul Bryan, featuring contributions from Meshell Ndegeocello, Macie Stewart, Marquis Hill, Ben Lumsdaine, and more – is a marvel of electro-acoustic innovation that combines compositional brilliance and technological ambition into a mesmerizing blend of skeletal soul-jazz, post-bop, electronic minimalism, and dreamy ambience.