Omni Sound is excited to announce When There Is No Sun, a global recording project uniting visionary electronic music producers to reimagine the universe of Sun Ra, out March 27th. Commissioned by Omni Sound and curated by Ricardo Villalobos, When There Is No Sun brings together Underground Resistance, Chez Damier & Ben Vedren, Calibre, A Guy Called Gerald, SHE Spells Doom, Barış K, and Ricardo Villalobos himself to draw from Omni Sound’s recordings of Living Sky by the Sun Ra Arkestra and My Words Are Music, a spoken-word album of Sun Ra’s poetry. The producers pull fragments of sound and text into their own creative orbits, passing through the portal that Sun Ra opened into a realm where the impossible is possible.
Invocations by Saul Williams, Anthony Joseph, Mahogany L. Browne, Abiodun Oyewole, Tunde Adebimpe, and Tara Middleton turn rhyme into rhythm and resistance into revelation. Rooted in deep reverence for Sun Ra’s legacy, yet reaching forward as a living, generative force, When There Is No Sun is not a tribute but a continuum. Each contributor balances the pulse of electronic music with the spirit of experimentation, embodying Sun Ra’s conviction that sound is a vessel for transformation.
In conjunction with today’s announcement, Omni Sound present “When Angels Speak” by Underground Resistance featuring Saul Williams. As one of Detroit’s most influential and uncompromising musical movements, Underground Resistance bring their anti-extractive, futurist vision of techno rooted in independence, resistance, and Black empowerment to the title track of Sun Ra’s rare 1966 album, released on their Saturn label. Williams, an internationally acclaimed poet, musician, actor, and filmmaker contributes a distinct blend of lyrical intensity and cultural insight.
Listen to “When Angels Speak” by Underground Resistance feat. Saul Williams
One of the most radical musical pioneers of the 20th century, Sun Ra used jazz, electronics, poetry, and performance to expand the possibilities of sound, identity, and imagination. A composer, bandleader, philosopher, and visionary, Ra didn’t just play music, he invented a universe. At the core of his philosophy is freedom through creation. He taught that the world’s dominant narratives—history, race, time, even gravity—are prisons of the mind, and that through music, myth, and performance, one could transcend these limits and reclaim control of destiny.
The artists featured in When There Is No Sun, in their own way, embody Sun Ra’s conviction that sound is a vessel for transformation. They are not united by genre but by purpose—artists who use rhythm, language, and imagination to rewire perception and open portals to new worlds.
Pre-order When There Is No Sun
When There Is No Sun Release Events:
Tue. March 17 – Cape Town, ZA @ Pan African Space Station (streaming event only)
Fri. March 20 – Wuppertal, DE @ Open Ground (feat: Ricardo Villalobos & Chez Damier)
Fri. April 10 – New York, NY @ Nublu (feat. Sun Ra Arkestra & Chez Damier)
Fri. July 31 – Amsterdam, NL @ Dekmantel Festival (feat. Saul Williams & Underground Resistance)
Keep your mind open.
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[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]
