Grammy-winning bassist Pino Palladino and acclaimed guitarist/producer Blake Mills reunite for their next collaborative statement, That Wasn’t A Dream, releasing August 22 on New Deal / Impulse! Records. With the announcement comes the lead single “Taka,” a vibrant, exploratory instrumental with a new video.
Building on the layered spontaneity of their 2021 debut Notes With Attachments, the new album takes a more focused turn, centering on restraint, balance, and sonic minimalism. As Mills explains, That Wasn’t A Dream expands their musical dialogue, “harnessing chaos with intention,” as they stretch the boundaries of genre and form.
Recorded over two months at the legendary Studio A at Sound City Studios—Mills’s home base since 2018—the album welcomes returning collaborator Sam Gendel, who adds finishing flourishes to nearly every track. But at the heart of it all is the deepening rapport between Palladino and Mills, a duo that defies traditional musical roles.
Palladino, long known for his bass innovations alongside artists like D’Angelo, The Who, John Mayer, and Erykah Badu, used this record as a platform to pare dense harmonic ideas down to their essence. “If we could make something work with the least possible ingredients,” he says, “space could become the centerpiece.”
Mills, a Grammy-winner and two-time Producer of the Year nominee, took that philosophy even further, using a newly developed fretless baritone sustainer guitar—co-designed with luthier Duncan Price—to color the album with tones reminiscent of brass, woodwinds, and strings. One track, “What Is Wrong With You?,” marks the instrument’s first appearance on record.
Lead single “Taka” showcases the duo’s unique musical instincts: a shifting blend of groove, melody, and abstraction that resolves into a shimmering funk landscape. It’s music that is both sonically rich and emotionally subtle—an auditory experience that rewards repeated listening.
As That Wasn’t A Dream moves from hushed passages to unexpected bursts of complexity, it reaffirms Palladino and Mills’s place as sonic explorers—pioneers of a sound that’s hard to define but impossible to ignore.
Look for live performances this fall in support of the album.
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