Snarky Puppy released Somni on November 21, and it’s one of the best albums you’ve ever heard and will ever hear. It’s already on my deserted island list and a certain (multi) Grammy winner. I’m confident that once people hear it, they will be astounded based on its sonic impact, novel approach to melodies and rhythms, range of emotions stirred, musicality, and technical achievements. Now that the superlatives are out there, I’ll offer up the rationale for the buildup.
Somni was recorded with the Metropole Orkest under the direction of Jules Buckley over the course of three days (two sessions per day) in Utrecht, The Netherlands, in January 2025. Sylva is a previously recorded Grammy-winning collaboration between the Pups and MO, and their album covers (right) clearly show the thematic connection. Somni is, however, unique with its cohesive and relatable dream theme. Everyone dreams, and the explanation that Michael League gives for each track (shown in the green boxes) allows the listener a glimpse into his headspace. For me, they serve as launch points, but in no way drive my interpretation which is the way dreams may “Drift” and “Stay With You” for a time.
The tunes are a mix of soft lullabies (Drift, Between Worlds), lively adventures (As You Are But Not As You Were, Recurrent) and comfortable excursions (Waves Upon Waves, It Stays With You, Only Here and Nowhere Else) and one nightmare (Chimera.) Each has its own appeal.
Somni is bound to impact the audience in different ways. As some friends have told me about the first two singles, Waves Upon Waves and Chimera, the songs feel complex and simple at the same time. The best I can explain it is that there are passages where very few notes are played (single piano at the start of Drift comes to mind) and then there are very complex polyrhythms (As You Are…) or multiple layered melodies (It Stays With You). This makes the tracks both relatable and interesting, worth listening over and over. Also, as Michael League stated in a recent YouTube interview, the music of Snarky Puppy is written with melodies fun to listen to and for the band to enjoy performing. That’s highlights another aspect of this collection that is different than Sylva – it was written to be able to be performed by the band on tour, without the MO, so the adaptations for the new tour will be exciting to see.
There were 74 musicians on the album – 20 from Snarky Puppy and 54 from the Metropole Orkest. The mind boggling task of arranging fell to Michael, Jules and two of their colleagues. The plethora of sounds from harp to marimba to every kind of percussion and horn imaginable keeps the music constantly tantalizing.
I’m likely to be the only reviewer that was present for all six recording sessions in Utrecht, so I was able to actually see the recording as it was performed. What was unique about the recording sessions is that each track had a sequential number but was not named at the time. Each session played through all of the tracks in sequence. Only three videos are out so far, with the remaining coming out in the next few weeks. I’ll update this post as they are subsequently revealed.
I think multiple Grammys are in order for composing, arranging, mixing, and anything else that can be imagined. The sessions were truly dreamlike in so many ways. Jules Buckley and Michael, back-to-back on the podium, were like watching a kind of dance with the musicians responding perfectly to every cue. Here’s my Dream-By- Dream coverage of this magnificent album, SOMNI! Enjoy!
Dream-By-Dream
Waves Upon Waves is the first track that we heard during the sessions. At that time, I wrote, “When the music started with the Metropole Orkest string section, it felt like we literally took flight, and emotions were overwhelming.” As I glide through the song, I’d say the title is very appropriate and multifaceted—it can refer to emotional waves, brain waves, or, of course, sound waves, most likely!
So let’s jump into “Waves Upon Waves” right now. The first wave is the gorgeous string section and percussion theme with some perfect horn accents. Bob Reynolds takes the first short tenor solo, with Jay Jennings following on trumpet. The strings plus flutes is as lush as you’d ever hear. Then Chris Bullock gets a turn on flute, followed by Maz on flugelhorn. I don’t want to get carried away here, but within the first two and a half minutes of the tune, you already hear imprints from four of the Snarky Puppy members plus the Metropole Orkest.
The main theme returns with full woodwinds and brass. The break with the MO brass and percussion is pulsing. Then Zach Brock takes a signature solo with the string section clapping percussion in unison. This was so cool to witness.
When they break from the solo, the horns serenade with a clarion call, and Michael League hits with a bass keys bit that is familiar to Snarky Puppy fans worldwide. One aspect I really enjoyed is the wide use of the bass horn and the low-end brass throughout this tune and the rest of the album. We see Marcelo Woloski enjoying playing the krakeb, as often seen during the tune “Xavi.” I absolutely love the section where the horn section each take a turn in succession from Maz to Jay to Bob to Chris down the line. The head with the full force of the orchestra comes back, and the “wave” subsides. It’s really a stunning opening!
“Waves Upon Waves,” the album’s opener, became the seed for Somni’s larger concept. League had originally written its theme during the Empire Central sessions but set it aside. “It kind of had this dreamlike quality,” he recalls. The piece gently swells in energy while never fully settling into wakefulness or surrendering to sleep — conjuring the strange tension of drifting between the two.
– SnarkyPuppy.com
As You Are But Not As You Were is incredibly bright, starting out with a four-marimba pattern, a great bass line, and synth/strings to establish the head. It makes great use of a singular triangle note at key points. Marimbas are constant throughout with deep brass and strings on the lower end. This song has a bright high end and a deep, deep bottom. The first solo is on synth, with marimbas and strings coming back even stronger. The piano solo flows underneath. There’s a crescendo of horns, strings, and keys that drops back to the marimbas, percussion, and bass. The flutes come back with a brilliant main theme, and then the strings accentuate it. The song also contains the first distinctive MO solo from the trombonist, and it’s a great one. The strings and horns/brass really soar, and finally all yield back to the marimbas and percussion for a lullaby-like section before another crashing crescendo brings the orchestra back with a trumpet solo this time. The strings and percussion lead into the final huge section that drops all the way down to just the marimbas for the closeout. The audience is stunned.
“As You Are” draws from a familiar dream sensation: recognizing someone you know, even though they appear entirely different. “You know that a person in your dream is your mother, but their face looks like Bill Clinton or something,” League says. That surreal mutability becomes musical as a central phrase passes between instruments, transforming as it goes. “There are these things that exist from the beginning to the end of the song, but they change shape,” he explains — a reflection of dream logic rendered orchestrally.
– SnarkyPuppy.com
Chimera starts out with the chilling brass blasts from all of the Snarky horns and MO sections! There’s the scene of the gong being pounded, and there’s actually an ominous thunder-like sound before Chris Bullock’s soft juxtaposing flute solo, the calm before the storm, when the MO comes back in full force. The drumming and percussion are more staggered, much like the overall theme. Bob Lanzetti has the eerie guitar solo, perhaps honed when he soundtracked a ‘Nosferatu’ album recently. The middle section reminds me of a giant clock ticking away, perhaps in a haunted castle. There’s Michael League rocking in the center, and then the strings herald the introduction of Bobby Sparks’ monster clavinet solo. Michael League jokingly referenced the outsized role of the “Corsicana Cowboy,” Bobby Sparks, on clavinet here, and you can see him in the center of the humongous room in the star position wearing the white cowboy hat!
The end features the ever-spooky strings with the giant drum and percussion blasts that then slow down with the horn section, strings, and drums. The fade-out is incredible, with Jules Buckley and JT Thomas on drums timing it just so as it becomes inaudible. It’s absolutely magical!
“Chimera” evokes a mischievous, volatile dream in which the subconscious runs free. “It’s kind of in between a nightmare and a dream where you observe yourself doing things you’re too shy or reserved to do in real life,” League says. The finale layers four grooves—each in a different key and tempo, assigned to different sections of the orchestra and drum set players. “That was by far the hardest thing we did on the whole record,” he notes. “It’s hard for good musicians to not listen to each other.”
– SnarkyPuppy.com
Between Worlds is notable for Michael’s opening playing the Turkish saz accompanied by Zach Brock on violin and strings. It almost feels like a waltz, and I can envision a ballerina dancing to it. Superimposed over the top is some slightly warped synth, with the strings dominant in the melody. When the horns come in, it’s full-on symphonic beauty. The guitars twinkle before the chimes play a super relaxing melody with the strings. A distinctive soprano sax solo from Bob Reynolds is bright and airy. When the horns and strings return, it feels more connected to the Sylva album than any other song or section of the album. The fade-out with some bird-like sounds, to me, confirms the connection.
“Between Worlds” depicts the transition from waking to sleep. “This tune is like the moment where you’re going from the conscious state of mind to the dream state,” League says. He describes the piece as a kind of lullaby with an uneven rhythmic structure, meant to convey the delicate imbalance of that shift. “It has a bit of a lopsidedness … supposed to symbolize this imbalance … of the transition from the world that we all know … into this kind of other world.”
– SnarkyPuppy.com
Recurrent is the longest tune on the album at nearly 14 minutes and will be a massive jam when performed live. Also, to me, it is the Snarky Puppy song most reminiscent of White Cap, one of my absolute favorite live tunes. It has that unique polyrhythm start and stop feel that gets the adrenaline pumping. It starts with a triad, that I lyricize as Re-cur-rent, repeating. It’s joined by some low end piano and then the fabulous bottom brass of Metropole Orkest. The pecussion, with marimbas comes in hard and Recurrent is in full swing literally. Michael plays the key bass and it just bounces along with the strings, horns and percussion. The piano section comes out of nowhere and it’s a pleasant surprise. The piano solo is bright and bouncy. The next section is notable for it’s horn solos as each member takes their turn in succession down the line. In essence, it’s a cuatro (maybe cinco) solo of horns.
Recurrent is most notable, in my view, for its cuatro drum solo, meaning that the second half is dominated by a massive drum off amongst Nikki, JT, Larnell and Jamison, each playing a different kit (I’ll have another article on that coming up). Without seeing it, it’s hard to realize that there are the handoffs being made as the transitions are so smooth. The triad from the beginning is the only timekeeper during the entire drum off. You can hear the different styles and drums if you listen closely. This take is distinctive and came from the final session as it’s the only time the audience breaks protocol, applauding after the horn solo earlier and more vigorously after the drum solos. When the full band and MO come back, we’re off to the races in full swing right to the finish.
“Recurrent” was inspired by a fever dream League had as a child: running through a field as massive metal gears rolled behind him. “Just at the moment where the first one would start to crush me, I would wake up, soaked in sweat,” he recalls. The track’s momentum is driven by a repeating rhythmic figure that mirrors the terror and relentlessness of the dream. “There would be a moment where I would feel like everything was cool … and then they would appear again.”
– SnarkyPuppy.com
Drift starts with an elegant piano seven note pattern and then is joined by Bob Reynolds on sax. I call the Pink Panther seduction song because it has that slinky feel of the Henry Mancini theme. Of course, the Pups were nominated for a Grammy for best arrangement on last year’s Mancini tribute album. In session 5, Michael instructed Bob R to take it from greasy to cool (a more bluesy) feel and then they’ll decide which take to use. Bobby Sparks takes us to church with a gorgeous B3 solo. The strings waft over the top and you can really feel like floating off to sleep. Drift is the shortest tune on the album but possibly the most relaxing and poetic.
“Drift” marks the moment of full immersion in sleep — when the outside world drops away. “It’s like the moment after the Between Worlds moment,” League explains. The music unfolds gradually, with angular melodies and “some strange edges to it,” before the full orchestra enters. “It’s like the feeling of really being carried off into this other bizarre world.”
– SnarkyPuppy.com
Only Here And Nowhere Else has one of the most lush string openings of any song. he entrancing guitar solo is gorgeous with the perfectly intersecting bass. One of the most tantalizing aspects of this song for me is the nine-note string progression, which has resurfaced the notion of a hippie-era lyrical song about peace and love. I hear it in my head with every listen and can’t figure it out (looking for any help I can get to break the spell.) The melody glides over the main theme. There’s the exquisite placement of the triangle tings. This one also features some terrific guitar work across Mark, Bob and Chris and is a song highlight.
“Only Here” explores the disorientation of waking from a dream so vivid it temporarily feels real. “I thought I was that person’s partner,” League says. “It took about 10 seconds of being conscious to recognize that my real reality is different than the last eight hours.” The track title refers to the dream state as a world that exists “only here and nowhere else.”
– SnarkyPuppy.com
It Stays With You is a truly remarkable song that I break in halves. The first part chugs like a freight train, and the second melts into a gorgeous aria, which I’ll get into deeply. The start has some jungle-like nature sounds followed by some tribal percussion beats, which I hear as a train chugging down the tracks. The horn’s clarion call is like the train whistle warning. The strings and drums/horns dual is the high and low of the forward movement. The fabulous percussion moves onward with the great high- and low-end brass. The ensuing string and horn interplay is true booty shaking. Chris Bullock has a prog-fusion solo turn with the low-end horns chugging hard. It’s a super dynamic piece of work—and when the horns come back hard with the strings playing an enchanting melody, it’s incredible.
Then as a totally indescribable and unexpected turn, I hear a female voice chanting over the top formed by Zach Brock and the string section. It’s impossible for me to listen to this song without hearing it as a voice, although I know it’s not. How is this happening? The orchestra comes back, and the voice is in my head, so beautiful. I remember watching Michael at the last session at that point with sheer amazement. Then there’s the epic, Queen-like guitar solo from none other than Chris McQueen as the cherry on top as the voice chants on for the aria. Then the sudden drop back down to a dreamy fade-out. My mind is blown!
“It Stays With You” captures the emotional afterimage of a dream — that lingering sense of meaning even as the details fall away. “The feeling of it remains,” League says. “Sometimes the dream that I have — by mid-afternoon, it’s still kind of on me in a certain way.” The piece closes the album with that resonance: ephemeral, ungraspable, but deeply felt.
– SnarkyPuppy.com
Stream or Buy Somni Here!
Thanks so much for this beautifully detailed and extremely helpful review, all the more useful because it’s from someone who really understands the music and what SP is all about. Thanks for all the careful thought you put into crafting it, so the rest of us can get a good sense of whether this record is worth investing in, and what we can expect from it.