New Blue Sun

New Blue Sun is the debut solo album by American musician André 3000. It was released by Epic Records on November 17, 2023. It features instrumental contributions by an ensemble including Benjamin on various flutes, percussionist and producer Carlos Niño, keyboardist Surya Botofasina, guitarist Nate Mercereau, drummer Deantoni Parks, vocalist Mia Doi Todd, multi-instrumentalist Jesse Peterson and keyboardist Diego Gaeta; as well as Leaving Records musicians V.C.R and Matthewdavid. The album represents an end to the musician’s 17-year hiatus of new material.

Background
In a previous endeavor with a woodwind instrument, Benjamin collaborated with James Blake in 2018 to release a 17-minute long instrumental jazz song called "Look Ma No Hands"; the former played bass clarinet on the track.

In the years leading up to the release of New Blue Sun, Benjamin made media appearances playing flute in public settings; this was especially amplified online by his appearance as a flautist on the score for the Daniels' 2022 film Everything Everywhere All at Once. He would later meet with jazz musician Carlos Niño in Los Angeles, where the two agreed to create a studio album. Ahead of its announcement, fellow rapper Killer Mike teased an impending release by André 3000.

As his first solo studio release, and the first studio material of his in a significant period of time, the 87-minute album largely consists of "experimental flute music" with both acoustic and electronic instrumentation, influenced by spiritual jazz musicians and minimalist composers. It features "a myriad" of different flutes performed by Benjamin in various styles across eight instrumental pieces.

When announcing the album on November 14, 2023, Benjamin emphasized that the project is not "a rap record", with the packaging displaying a lighthearted disclaimer that it contains "no bars"; he has additionally dismissed rumors that he was "sitting around on rap albums" that he has been characterized as refusing to release, saying instead that he felt more comfortable with the direction indicated by New Blue Sun.

The album was originally titled Everything Is Too Loud, but was renamed because André 3000 felt that it put out negative energy.

Critical reception
New Blue Sun was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 77, based on ten reviews.

Reviewing the album for Pitchfork, Sadie Sartini Garner described it as an "87-minute devotional to new age, ambient jazz, and spiritual discovery. It's beautiful, demanding, and among the most fascinating artistic left turns in recent memory". Clash's Robin Murray called it "relaxing, occasionally absorbing, and often explicitly beautiful" and an album that "hinges on André's love for melody and his questing spirit".

Fred Thomas of AllMusic wrote that "if you can get past the premise (and overlook the goofy song titles, most of which are too long and silly to dignify here) and tune in to New Blue Sun as an album of contemplative healing sounds, it's pleasant and sometimes even sublime". David Smyth of the Evening Standard asked "Is this really how he's going to reintroduce himself to the music world?" and wrote that it "feels like music from the time when your record shop had a 'New Age' section", calling its songs "long, and peaceful, and deliberately unfocused".

New Blue Sun appeared on year-end lists from Pitchfork and Consequence, who respectively rated it the 50th and 47th best album of 2023.

Personnel
Musicians
 * Carlos Niño – bells, chimes, cymbals, drums, gong, plants, percussion
 * Nate Mercereau – guitar, guitar synth, live sampling (1–4, 8)
 * Surya Botofasina – keyboards, synthesizer (1, 2, 4, 8)
 * André 3000 – wind controller (1, 2, 5-8), pedals (3–5), contrabass flute (3), "panther toning" (3), flute (4, 5)
 * Deantoni Parks – drums (3)
 * Diego Gaeta – keyboards, synthesizer (5); piano (6, 7)
 * Matthewdavid – mycelial electronics (5)
 * Shabaka Hutchings - Shakuhachi (5)
 * V.C.R – violin, effects (5)
 * Jesse Peterson – bass, sintir, pedals (6, 7)
 * Mia Doi Todd – vocals (6, 7)

Technical
 * André 3000 – production, mixing
 * Carlos Niño – production, mixing
 * Ken Oriole – mixing, engineering, recording
 * Andy Kravitz – mastering
 * Fab Dupont – additional production