2016 has seen the NYC-based Holy Ghost! frontman drop the nu-disco Crime Cutz EP with bandmate Nick Millhiser via DFA and open Frankel’s Delicatessen in Greenpoint Brooklyn with his brother Zach.

Frankel has been a collaborator and live performer throughout 2016 as well. He features on Classixx single “I Feel Numb” and has performed live with the group throughout the year including Lollapalooza, FYF Fest, KCRW and on Last Call with Carson Daly.

Frankel is surprise dropping his first-ever solo EP Negative Space this Friday September 30th. Ahead of it’s release he is sharing the title-track.

Recorded at his home studio in Brooklyn, Chromeo’s Funk Box Studios in Burbank, CA, and mixed and mastered by the inimitable Alex Epton (Björk, TV On The Radio, FKA Twigs, Spank Rock) at New York’s XL Studios, Negative Space is a four-track collection of candy-coated disco pop-funk jams that showcase Frankel’s solo chops and see the artist stepping out of his comfort zone and continue to push the envelope.

**Don’t worry Holy Ghost! fans, the duo is still going strong!

Frankel explains how it all came together in detail below:

In June I went out to Los Angeles to perform a song I wrote and sang with Classixx on KCRW, “I Feel Numb.” At the taping they told me they were having trouble figuring out an opening act for their fall tour and – half joking – they suggested I finish some solo jams I was sitting on and come out on the road. Maybe it was the amount of coffee I had that morning – but for some reason I was like, “Sure. I’ll finish some songs and put together a band and do it. ”

In August, along with the help of many talented friends I went about mixing and mastering a bunch of songs and starting rehearsals for the live show. The music was recorded at my house in Brooklyn , Chromeo’s “Funk Box” studios in Burbank, and then mixed and finished with Alex Epton – who is the glue on this project – at the XL recording studios in Soho NYC.

I also had extraordinary help from my friend Vaughn Oliver from the group Oliver who shares the studio in Burbank with Chromeo, songwriter Kosuke Kasza (That Work), Morgan Wiley (Hercules & Love affair, Midnight Magic), engineer wizard Chris McLaughlin, huge help from writer and producer Ryland Blackington, the great saxophonist Jeremy Powell, and lots of support from Dave 1 from Chromeo who entertained a million late night text messages about the songs. Neon Indian’s Alan Paloma also provided one piece of extremely important feedback: “make it simpler.”

Nick Millhiser my bandmate from Holy Ghost! also listened and gave me suggestions along the way. And on that note I should say I’m very, very lucky to have a music partner that encourages doing my own thing and doesn’t take it as an insult to our project together. Holy Ghost! is alive and well.

It takes a village I guess…

Negative Space EP Tracklist:
1. Get Back
2. Negative Space
3. Ryland’s Theme
4. Lost Design

On Tour Now w/ Classixx & Neon Indian

* = Holy Ghost! Live Show
All Other Dates Alex Frankel Solo w/ Full Band
(tickets)

9/27: New Orleans, LA @ Hi-Ho Lounge
9/28: Birmingham, AL @ Saturn
9/29: Gainesville, FL @ The Wooly
9/30: Miami, FL @ 1306
10/1: Orlando, FL @ The Social
10/4: Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West – King Plow Arts Center
10/5: Richmond, VA @ The National
10/6: Millvale, PA @ Mr. Small’s Theatre
10/7: Washington DC @ 930 Club
10/13: New York, NY @ Terminal 5 *
10/14: Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club *
10/15: Syracuse, NY @ Westcott Theater
10/18: Buffalo, NY @ Waiting Room
10/19: Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Ballroom
10/20: Montreal, QC @ Le Belmont
10/21: Toronto, ON @ The Velvet Underground
10/22: Detroit, MI @ Populux
10/25: Bloomington, IN @ The Bluebird
10/26: Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom
10/27: Chicago, IL@ Concord Music Hall
10/28: Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Hall
10/29: Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Hall