Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey just crossed a billion dollars at the global box office. Tom Holland, the permanently fresh-faced young actor who played Telemachus in The Odyssey, might hit double that number with Spider-Man: Brand New Day. If only for zeitgeist-related reasons, this is obviously a good moment for the LA-based musician and producer who calls himself Telemakus to announce an album, and Telemakus is doing exactly that today.
The 26-year-old Indian-American artist Telemakus got his start in the Bay Area, and he released his debut album Calantha in 2018. A few years ago, Telemakus was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a condition that weakens connective tissues and causes severe finger hyper-extension, and he had to change the way that he makes music with his hands. He now has to wear eight silver rings around his finger joints — a rare situation when medical corrective equipment might also look really cool — and that's why his new album is called Eight Ring Revival. In a press release, Tekelmakus says:
Eight silver rings curl around my finger joints. They sleep with me, eat with me, play with me. My doctor gave them to me to keep my fingers from hyperextending after I was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. After releasing my previous project in 2021, I didn’t realize it would be the last record I made with my hands as I once knew them. One night during a flare, I called a friend in Paraguay and began building a song by asking for single notes, then chords, then structures. From there, a collective process formed: collaborators became extensions of my own expression. I later discovered I could also compose with my feet, developing pieces on a pillow, using toes and ankles to trigger harmony in ways that felt unexpectedly fluid. Recovery came in stages, shaped by clinics, collaborators, and unexpected mentors. What began as limitation turned into method on this album. Songs built across distance, through memory, dreams, and digital space.
Given that collaborative process, it makes sense that Eight Ring Revival features contributions from a bunch of musicians, including GENA partners Liv.e and Karriem Riggins, as well as Flying Lotus, Sparklmami, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, and Nicole McCabe, among many others. Lead single "2054" is a funky, squelchy two-minute instrumental that features Riggins on drums and multi-instrumentalist Chino Corvalán. Riggins says, "As a musician, you recognize when someone has their own language. Telemakus has that gift. As a pianist and producer, his voice is unmistakably his own." Mackai Sharp directed the "2054" video, in which Telemakus plays an old-school glamorous airline pilot. Check it out below.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Everyone In The Sky"
02 "Five Hands Pt. 1" (feat. Swarvy & SUMIN)
03 "Electric Lady" (feat. Kace., curran, & Rouhangeze)
04 "Toes And Rings" (feat. Liv.e)
05 "Hands Rejoice!" (feat. Sparklmami, Bigboihums, & Tristan Cappel)
06 "By Any Feet Necessary"
07 "Holy Matrimony"
08 "2054" (feat. Karriem Riggins & Chino Corvalán)
09 "June’s Peace" (feat. Sparklmami)
10 "Last Divine Phoenix" (feat. Sparklmami, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, & Nicole McCabe)
11 "Revival" (feat. Karriem Riggins & Mndsgn)
12 "The Center Eye" (feat. Flying Lotus & Miguel Atwood-Ferguson)
Eight Ring Revival is out 10/20 on Good Problem Studios. Pre-order it here.
