Irreversible Entanglements s/t (IA11 Edition) // OUT NOW on all digital music platforms // LP in stores on June 27th
Irreversible Entanglements
Irreversible Entanglements
(IA11 Edition)
Out Now on all digital music platforms
vinyl LP out June 27th, 2025
Irreversible Entanglements’s self-titled debut album was originally released in September 2017, and features the first music ever played together by the freshly assembled Philly/NY/DC-based quintet of poet Camae Ayewa (aka Moor Mother), bassist Luke Stewart, saxophonist Keir Neuringer, trumpeter Aquiles Navarro, and drummer Tcheser Holmes. The explosive collection of improvised free-jazz with spoken word accompaniment was born after the group's initial meeting at a Musicians Against Police Brutality event (organized by musicians/comrades Amirtha Kidambi and Peter Evans following the state-sponsored killing of Akai Gurley).
As the original press release puts it: “the spirit and subject the band channels and explores represent a return to a central tenet of the free jazz sound as it was founded — to be a vehicle for Black liberation. As creative and adventurous as any recording of contemporary avant-garde jazz but offering listeners no abstractions to hide behind, this is music that both honors and defies tradition, speaking to the present while insisting on the future.”
It’s that balance of honor and defiance that is so palpable in this early music of Irreversible Entanglements which, despite its system-shocking effect, sits squarely in the lineage of East Coast free jazz (often echoing the mid-1960s work of The New York Art Quartet and Amiri Baraka, among others). That line can be traced through all of the band’s recordings, including two other albums released by International Anthem (2020's Who Sent You? and 2021's Open The Gates), and their 2023 album Protect Your Light (released by Impulse! Records). Now ten years on from their first collective sound captured in the recording session for this self-titled debut, it’s clear that Irreversible Entanglements's intensity of spirit and purity of purpose influenced our label as much as it did its own community.
The IA11 Edition vinyl LP (out June 27th) features our IARC 2025 obi strip, plus a new 8-page 11x11" insert booklet with unpublished session photos and new liner notes by Irreversible Entanglements bassist Luke Stewart.
In anticipation of that, the #IA11 edition of the album is out now on all digital music platforms. The digital version comes with the addition of a bonus track – "Woman" – an outtake from the recording session for Irreversible Entanglements (at Seizure's Palace, Brooklyn, August 2015), available now for the first time.
IA11 Liner Notes by Luke Stewart
"From the beginning, it was important to stand against the singular hierarchy that was pervasive in the community, choosing to follow the collective legacies and long-term survival strategies of Creative Musicians."
"The Music that you hear on this album is the first music that this group ever played together. It is a document of a particular time in our lives, our cities, our communities, and the Music itself. As our cultural legacies were collectively being erased and dispersed, it was important to employ the Spirit of the Music to reclaim our cultural heritage, and to protect it."
Deluxe Vinyl Package
Irreversible Entanglements (IA11 Edition) comes on a 140 gram classic black vinyl LP inside a heavyweight jacket with an 8-page 11"x11" insert booklet, IARC 2025 obi strip and printed poly-lined printed inner-sleeve. Pressed at Pallas in Germany, with new lacquers cut by Daniel K at SST.
...about IA11...
On December 2nd, 2024, we marked the ten-year anniversary of our first release. With a full decade under our belt – ten years of commitment to a growing community of artists, and our original mission statement ("to vitalize demand for boundary defying music," among other things) – we've spent a lot of time thinking about how we'd like to celebrate this milestone. What we keep coming back to is: desire to use this opportunity to revisit and revivify music and memories from our first decade; but keeping true to our ethos of always looking forward, all the way.
In that spirit, across 2025, we'll be rolling out a series of releases and events under the #IA11 banner. Celebrating our eleventh year. Doing our best to retell essential, foundational stories from our past, while keeping our hearts and minds fixed on the present. Trying to establish new standards that can help carry our mission through another decade of work – and hopefully more.
We created an emblem for IA11 with a vibrating interpretation of a chrysanthemum as the central symbol. Aside from just loving the delicious golden nectar that comes from the leaves of this flower, for us, the image of the chrysanthemum resonates as a symbol of longevity and rejuvenation. Two of the driving intentions behind this IA11 effort.
Please stay tuned for more announcements about more special IA11 events and releases across 2025.
11 of 11
@ Hungry Brain
Chicago
As part of the #IA11 celebration, we have been proud to present this special event series in Chicago, focusing on a different album from our catalog on the last Monday of every month across 2025 at the Hungry Brain. Each 11 of 11 event features deep listening of an album, followed by a small group of musicians performing an interpretation of that album.
The next 11 of 11 event, Monday May 26th, will feature a full listening to Jeff Parker's International Anthem debut The New Breed (originally released June 2016), followed by a performance by Chet Zenor (electric guitar), Brian Seyler (saxophone, electronics), Gus Martini (electric bass), and Andy Danstrom (drums), as the musicians respond to and reinterpret the music of the album.
Get tickets for May 26th here; and stay tuned for details and lineups for future 11 of 11 events.
IA11 Editions
Over the course of 2025 we are revisiting some of the most celebrated entries in our decade of releases with a series of *IA11 Edition* vinyl LPs. These revamped LP packages are all presented with new liner notes, new insert booklets, and the fresh 2025 redesign of our obi strip and dome logo. They are also set at a price point intended to make the albums more accessible than ever before.
The first three IA11 Edition LPs were released on March 28th:
IARC0001LP11 Rob Mazurek - Alternate Moon Cycles (IA11 Edition)
order hereIARC0003LP11 Makaya McCraven - In The Moment (IA11 Edition)
order hereIARC0017LP11 Ben LaMar Gay - Downtown Castles Can Never Block The Sun (IA11 Edition)
order here
And the next three IA11 Edition LPs
will be released on June 27th:
IARC0009LP11 Jeff Parker - The New Breed (IA11 Edition)
order hereIARC0014LP11 Irreversible Entanglements - Irreversible Entanglements(IA11 Edition)
order hereIARC0033LP11 Carlos Niño & Miguel Atwood-Ferguson - Chicago Waves (IA11 Edition)
order here
The first three LPs and second three LPs can be purchased as bundles with reduced shipping costs as well, all available via our Bandcamp page now.
