Few acts do better in bringing out the best in their guests than Thievery Corporation  and the lineup for their fifth album is a solid array of international superstars.
Thievery Corporation - Rob Garza and Eric Hilton - have enlisted Nigeria’s Femi Kuti, Brazil's Seu Jorge, India's sitarist Anushka Shankar, Slovakian chanteuse and violinist Jana Andevska and the king of go-go originator Chuck Brown as collaborators on "Radio Retaliation," which ESL will release on Sept. 23.
A pre-release will be available on iTunes on Sept. 9, at which time the non-album track “Philosopher’s Stone” will be made available for two weeks.
Recorded in the band’s hometown of Washington, D.C., disc promises to be highly political.
In the band's press release, Garza stated: “'Radio Retaliation' is definitely a more overt political statement. There’s no excuse for not speaking out at this point, with the suspension of habeas corpus, outsourced torture, illegal wars of aggression, fuel, food, and economic crises.  It’s hard to close your eyes and sleep while the world is burning around you.  If you are an artist, this is the most essential time to speak up.”
Album will also feature longtime collaborators Sleepy Wonder, LouLou, Notch, Zee and Verny Varela.
Facebook and iLike will do their first significant music promotion ever for "Radio Retaliation," featuring it  on their community of websites starting a few days prior to the release.
Band, with 15 members in tow, will play the U.S. and Europe this fall and hit the festival circuit in the spring and summer next year.