Photo: Peter Varshavsky

Recalling the far-out days of George Clinton’s Funkadelic/Parliament projects, Copperwire‘s debut album Earthbound is a sci-fi concept record that blends funk, jazz and hip-hop amongst a myriad of different rhythms. The trio consists of singer Meklit Hadero, hip-hop artist Gabriel Teodros and producer Burntface. Each has different a musical approach in her/his solo work, but they share a common Ethiopian ancestry. On the group’s first single “Wake Up” their separate styles are front and center. The group listened to beats before breaking off on their own to write their verses, and then came back together to record.

“[The song] is about that moment of coming into a new way of thinking, questioning, interpreting,” Copperwire tells Hive. “It stands out as our comment on the way things are here, as celestial characters who can observe neutrally and interpret based on seeing things for the first time.”

Earthbound arrives on April 17 via Porto Franco Records.