Nigel Godrich and Dhani Harrison's Dragonflies release their album

Dragonflies, the duo of Nigel Godrich and Dhani Harrison, released their self-titled debut album on 18 September on Dark Horse Records/BMG. The Los Angeles Times notes that George Harrison founded the label in 1974 and his son relaunched it in 2020. That night they played it in order at a sold-out Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever in Los Angeles, their first concert.

The two have been friends since both lived in Los Angeles in the early 2000s. During the pandemic Harrison went to Godrich for advice on his 2023 album Innerstanding, and later lent him one of his late father's tape machines, the one Shankar Family & Friends was recorded on. On it, at Godrich's studio in Brixton, the pair jammed while Godrich picked out the passages he liked, and those loops became the songs. Nothing was programmed on a computer. “Slower”, the first song they made, in a few hours, opens the eight tracks, and the last ends on crickets Harrison caught on a small Zoom recorder one night in Australia.

Harrison saw one of the first shows by Thom Yorke and Godrich's band that became Atoms for Peace, at the Orpheum Theatre in 2009, and says it made him want to quit music. I went home and I was like, Oh, they've already done all the things I want to do.¹

The night before the release they played “Slower” on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live!, their late-night TV debut, and at the Masonic Lodge Harrison pointed out that strictly speaking Kimmel had been their first gig. The band walked through the audience to reach the stage, and near the end told the room there would be no encore, with “In Between” and “End Of World” still to come. Godrich plays bass and will not use prerecorded backing tracks, so Nick Valensi of the Strokes is on guitar, Joey Waronker on drums, with Maurice Talbot and two backing singers. He won't even let me use six Kaoss Pads onstage.¹

A second night in the same room follows on 19 September, with Paris and London in November, both part of the Pitchfork Music Festival.

Dates

They already have enough songs for a second album; more touring waits on Godrich finishing a couple of records he is producing. I got bored of being Dhani Harrison anyway¹, Harrison says. I like being Dragonflies now.¹

Dragonflies, “Slower”, the official video by RUFFMERCY· Dragonflies Musicwatch on youtube →

Dhani Harrison and Nigel Godrich talk Dragonflies with Nic Harcourt on 88.5 The SoCal Sound· The SoCal Soundwatch on youtube →