When Black Pumas made their self-titled debut in 2019, the Austin duo set off a reaction almost as combustible and rapturous as their music itself. Along with earning a career total of seven Grammy Award nominations, singer/songwriter Eric Burton and guitarist/producer Adrian Quesada achieved massive success as a live act and delivering a transcendent show Burton aptly refers to as ‘electric church.’ As they set to work on their highly awaited sophomore album, the band broadened their palette to include a dazzling expanse of musical forms: heavenly hybrids of soul and symphonic pop, mind-bending excursions into jazz-funk and psychedelia, starry-eyed love songs that feel dropped down from the cosmos.
In creating the follow-up Chronicles of a Diamond, Black Pumas made a point of tuning out any sense of anticipation from the outside world. ‘I knew the first record was good when we finished it, but I had no idea people would respond like they did,’ says Quesada. ‘This time around there was a lot of pressure and expectation that we hadn’t felt before, which was overwhelming at times, but we did our best to tune that out and focus on trusting ourselves like we always have.’ As a result, Chronicles of a Diamond wholly echoes an essential intention behind its creation. ‘More than anything I wanted to make something we’d be thrilled to play live 200 days a year,’ says Burton. ‘I wanted to be able to laugh, cry, bob my head, do the thing: it was all very much a selfish endeavor.’