Contour

Charleston, SC-based artist Contour announces Take Off from Mercy, his new album and debut for Mexican Summer, out November 1st, and presents the lead single/video “Theresa” alongside “Gin Rummy.” In conjunction, Contour also announces a fall North American tour kicking off in Brooklyn, NY on Friday, October 25th and continuing through cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, and more. Tickets are on sale now.

Working with the likes of Saul Williams, Mndsgn and co-producer Omari Jazz, Take Off from Mercy documents a journey through past and present, night and day, denial and serene acceptance. Contour (real name Khari Lucas) envisions Take Off from Mercy as an epic within the pitch dark of night leading to a cloudy resolution.

Our narrator is a prodigal son who must wander through the wiles of excess to approach grace; his journey mirroring that of the protagonist in Toni Morrison’s epochal third novel, Song of Solomon. To deepen these themes, Lucas is revealing the album in three portions—“Night,” “Evening” and “Morning.” This phrasing reflects the narrative arc of the album while providing a broader sonic context to the singles. The cinematic scope of this voyage comes to the fore in the accompanying three-part short film directed by Lucas and T.V (Tshay, Vernon Jordan III).

“Night,” the first portion released today from Take Off from Mercy, drops us off in the dead of night. In the world of this album, a night can steer towards bliss or paranoia. “Theresa”’s loping breakbeat, soaring atmospherics and dream logic lyrics gesture towards the sublime, yet even here, there’s a foreboding edge. “I’m dreaming of the last time I saw you dancing,” Lucas intones. “Silver linings each time, they hang me.” The subtle swells and countermelodies give “Theresa” its floating, breathing quality. “Gin Rummy,” meanwhile, is more foreboding, a gambler’s lament that sees our protagonist weaving a cautionary tale. Our hero “searches for heaven,” finds it, then lets it slip through his hands like sand.

Contour’s body of work is evidence of a restless curiosity that culminates on Take Off from Mercy. Starting off as a beatmaker, Lucas’ vision has broadened over releases like Onwards!, Love Suite, and Weight, spanning from sample-driven Soul to covers of Strawberry Switchblade. On Take Off from Mercy, Lucas eschews samples in favor of guitar-driven songwriting, a move that immediately places him in a metaphysical conversation with a long line of Southern songwriters. “It immediately got me thinking about the itinerant Southern bluesman,” Lucas says. “The guitar as your only companion while traveling, the instrument as a tool to document your own story and carry on generational tales and traditions.”

When speaking about the blues, Lucas cites a line from New York emcee and producer E L U C I D on the provenance of the art form: “There’d be no blues if I was blameless.” Yet in the world of Take Off from Mercy, the blues are inescapable and we are bound by history, even if we’re under no obligation to repeat it. In the process of writing and recording Take Off from Mercy, Lucas toured constantly and began to understand underlying themes within his lineage. He discovered his father tried his hand as a musician before a period of wandering. His mother painted a mural that still rests in the Atlanta subway system. And Lucas’s ancestors crisscrossed from south and north and back again during The Great Migration. Our protagonist is still in motion, seeking an answer on some unknown horizon.