Metal Skin and Ivory Birds by the reclusive André Akinyele is his highly anticipated fourteenth album that includes the hit singles "We Walked On the Moon," "Metal Skin and Ivory Birds," "Cities Under the Sand," and "A Ritual of Sound and Time." The album is organic soul food for the heart and mind with its refreshing and powerful questioning of the world, where no one or nothing is off limits. The 12 track CD is hauntingly beautiful and compelling, and is based on observations and life experiences of recent world events. The album features a passionate cover of Tori Amos' "Crucify" and is musically inspired by Joni Mitchell's 1975 album The Hissing of Summer Lawns. Akinyele is offering a singer-songwriter approach just as Joni Mitchell, Curtis Mayfield, Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Fela Kuti, Marvin Gaye, and Gil Scott-Heron did by tackling social issues of the time. Not since recording artist Meshell Ndegeocello's 1993 album Plantation Lullabies has there been a brutally honest album in this vein. Akinyele states "it's an album that questions; especially, the state of the music industry, suicide, religion, spirituality, self-awareness, and politics. I want this album to spark conversation." Metal Skin and Ivory Birds may be one of the most honest albums ever recorded. Album Credits: Produced, arranged, composed, and performed by André Akinyele and features pianist Jon O'Bergh, The New Jazz Horns, Holmes Run Orchestra, and percussionist Earl Jones. DISCOGRAPHY Marcel: The Diary of Marcel (1998) Spice: The Alternative Hip-Hop Experience (2001) Uptown : 2025 A.D. (2003) Uptown : 2025 E.P. The Remixes (2004) Secret Weapon Volumes 1 & 2 (2004) Ajamu Akinyele: Supernova (2005) Black Magic: The Cyber Jazz Experience (2006) Andre Akinyele: The Potomac Syndrome (2012) Metal Skin and Ivory Birds (2015) Gemini Soul featuring Ajamu Akinyele: A Cyber Jazz Holiday (2005) Liquid Soul (2007) Live: The Liquid Soul Tour (2007) The Nefertiti Xperience (2008) Dark Skin Babies : The Movement (2009)