Curtis Harding Departures & Arrivals: Adventures of Captain Curt LP

Curtis Harding is proof of the strange magic that happens when musical prowress meets unbridled imagination.

In the making of his fourth full-length, the Atlanta-based singer/songwriter dreamed up a batch of songs exploring the longing and unease of being far from home—a true-to-life reflection he soon expanded into an elaborate concept album about a pilot lost in space. Departures & Arrivals: Adventures of Captain Curt merges the lavish scope of a space opera with the pure feeling of classic soul—ultimately bringing an even greater potency to his wildly eclectic sound.

Naming Ridley Scott among his favorite sci-fi auteurs, Harding notes that the extravagant world-building of Departures & Arrivals inspired many of his production choices, including the abundance of symphonic string arrangements supplied by Steve Hackman (a composer who's worked with such diverse artists as Doja Cat and Andrew Bird).

Self-produced at Electric Deluxe Recorders (an Austin studio owned by Adrian Quesada of Black Pumas), Departures & Arrivals serves as the follow-up to If Words Were Flowers—a 2021 release hailed by the likes of UPROXX, who praised Harding for "making some of the best modern soul music out right now."

For Harding, the decision to handle production on his own stemmed from a deep desire to pursue his creative ideals without compromise or restraint. Mostly recorded live with a full band, Departures & Arrivals encompasses everything from moody space-funk to lush baroque-pop to otherworldly psych-rock—all while endlessly spotlighting Harding's rich and captivating vocals and incandescent guitar work.