Dhani Harrison & Nigel Godrich Form Dragonflies, Announce Self-Titled Debut Album

Dhani Harrison and Nigel Godrich are prepping the self-titled debut album from their new collaborative project Dragonflies. The record arriving on September 18 via Dark Horse Records/BMG is previewed today with the single, “Slower.”

Although longtime friends, Harrison and Godrich forged a working relationship during the pandemic when Dhani reached out to Nigel seeking guidance on his Innerstanding project, planting the seed for what would become Dragonflies. Harrison and Godrich convened at the latter’s studio in the South London suburb of Brixton where they began constructing compositions from tape loops.

“It’s like one person throwing something in the air and the other person catching it,” Godrich noted of the pair’s process. The duo also leaned into their strengths, with Godrich producing and Harrison singing and playing guitar. In full control on his past projects, Dhani let acclaimed producer Godrich (Radiohead, Beck, Idles) take the reins.

“He’s a machine,” Harrison said of Godrich. “He has strong opinions about what he wants to hear, and for me it’s very humbling. That’s why it’s such a new experience.”

“Dragonflies are a symbol of spiritual enlightenment,” Harrison added. “When Nigel suggested the name I was like, yeah, sold, done. Whenever I see a dragonfly, it’s magical.”

Press materials further detailed Dragonflies:

Drawing on influences like Portishead’s Beth Gibbons, Japan’s David Sylvian, and Ryuichi Sakamoto, Harrison’s performances sit atop layered, hand-played grooves that hover between organic and electronic, at times echoing trip-hop. The songs were further shaped by Godrich’s Ultraísta and Atoms for Peace bandmate Joey Waronker on additional percussion. Famed composer/arranger David Campbell, who previously worked with Godrich on the former’s son Beck’s Sea Change, offers string arrangements on tracks like “In Between” that add both scale and depth. The result is what the band describes as a kind of earthbound space rock: transportive and far reaching, without leaning on psychedelic cliché.

The excellent single “Slower” marks the first glimpse of Dragonflies. The track arrived with a video created by renowned artist RUFFMERCY. The Bristol-based animator and music video director is known for his hand-drawn, psychedelic-infused style on videos from Nirvana, Earl Sweatshirt, The Chemical Brothers, Nas and Run The Jewels.

Watch the visual for “Slower” below:

Dragonflies Tracklist:

1. Slower
2. Setting sun
3. Straight Line
4. Heart Or Head
5. Ophelia
6. The Weight
7. In Between
8. End Of World