{"id":33099,"date":"2026-07-29T12:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T11:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/castthedice.org\/?p=33099"},"modified":"2026-07-29T12:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T11:04:09","slug":"nate-mercereau-announces-new-album-fantastic-thoughts-and-shares-title-track","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/castthedice.org\/?p=33099","title":{"rendered":"Nate Mercereau announces new album, Fantastic Thoughts<\/em>, and shares title track"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo: Juniper Mercereau<\/p><\/div>\n

LA-based multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer and composer Nate Mercereau<\/a> has announced the release of a new album titled Fantastic Thoughts<\/em>. Over the years, Mercereau has become a vital presence within a remarkable community of musicians and across a wide range of genres. Alongside his own releases, he has collaborated extensively with Carlos Ni\u00f1o adn Surya Botofasina, contributed to Andr\u00e9 3000\u2019s acclaimed New Blue Sun<\/em>, and worked as a producer, songwriter and musician with artists including Sade, Lizzo, Leon Bridges, Jay-Z, A$AP Rocky, The Weeknd and many others. Mercereau has also continued to develop his own approach to composition and improvisation through a wide range of solo and collaborative releases, including digi-squires<\/em> with Sam Gendel, the trio albums Subtle Movements and Free, Dancing . . .<\/em> with Surya Botofasina, Carlos Ni\u00f1o and Idris Ackamoor, and his ongoing contributions to Carlos Ni\u00f1o & Friends releases since 2020. Across this incredible and diverse body of work, he has been expanding his approach to the guitar, placing the instrument at the heart of his compositions.<\/p>\n

Mercereau’s forthcoming record is a celebration of imagination, creative freedom and the possibilities that emerge when musical ideas are are allowed to unfold. Fantastic Thoughts<\/em> finds Mercereau exploring what he calls \u201cActive New Reality Progressive Fusion\u201d, a space where composition, improvisation, experimentation and feeling come together. A record full of ideas and influences, it draws from disparate genres, including progressive rock, jazz fusion, electronic experimentation and beyond. Mercereau explains:<\/p>\n

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\u201cI am in the musical lineage of the great progressive rock band Yes and Jon Anderson, specifically Jon Anderson\u2019s transcendent impressionistic lyrical YES energy, the blazing connectivity of The Mahavishnu Orchestra and John McLaughlin, the heart fire of Jimi Hendrix, the continued exploration of Carlos Santana through all sounds and eras and genres, the experimentation of Robert Fripp and King Crimson, the imagination of Jon Hassell, the playfulness of Squarepusher, the earnestness of Steve Vai, the personal language of Lightning Bolt, the musical sweetness and memorable melody of the Pat Metheny Group and Lyle Mays, the orchestration of Stravinsky and Zappa, the lyrical guitar playing of Jeff Beck, the possibilities of Brian Eno, the heart-fire originator Tisziji Mu\u00f1oz \u2026 among everything else I\u2019ve ever heard or felt, these things stand out to me right now as other music I am related to.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Fantastic Thoughts<\/em> arrives on September 11th through Leaving Records<\/a> and ahead of it, Mercereau has unveiled the album\u2019s radiant and jubilant title track. Here it is.<\/p>\n